{"id":5577,"date":"2025-11-02T17:14:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T20:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/02\/north-vancouver-football-club-says-it-needs-new-turf-fields-to-meet-increasing-demand\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T17:14:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T20:14:24","slug":"north-vancouver-football-club-says-it-needs-new-turf-fields-to-meet-increasing-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/02\/north-vancouver-football-club-says-it-needs-new-turf-fields-to-meet-increasing-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"North Vancouver Football Club says it needs new turf fields to meet increasing demand"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>British ColumbiaThe North Vancouver Football Club is calling on the City and District of North Vancouver to build more turf fields as it\u2019s running out of space for its players to train.Metro Vancouver soccer organizers fear field capacity won\u2019t keep up with interest generated by the World CupZameer Karim  \u00b7 CBC News  \u00b7 Posted: Nov 02, 2025 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesKids are pictured playing soccer at the Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey. Soccer clubs in both Surrey and North Vancouver are calling on their cities to build more turf fields. (CBC)The North Vancouver Football Club is calling on the City and District of North Vancouver to build more turf fields, as it\u2019s running out of spaces for its players to train.The club, which is one of the largest soccer clubs in the Lower Mainland, says it is bursting at the seams already, and is expecting the popularity of the game to skyrocket with several FIFA World Cup games being held in Vancouver in the coming year.\u201cWe\u2019re at record numbers,\u201d said club president Stuart Ince. \u201cFrankly the problem we have is, we have nowhere to put the kids.\u201dThe club is made up of more than 3,500 youth and 200 adult members.WATCH | A look at Metro Vancouver\u2019s soccer infrastructure:Major growth expected for soccer in Canada, but officials worry about lack of infrastructureWith the FIFA World Cup coming to Vancouver in summer 2026, the soccer community is expecting participation to rise. But some are also worried about whether there are enough facilities to support the growth.  Zameer Karim has the story. Ince says the club doesn\u2019t turn anyone away, but the younger players are being forced to train on gravel fields or small school gyms.He adds that due to Metro Vancouver\u2019s wet climate, grass is often not a viable option.The football club\u2019s senior technical director Steve Kindell says it was common in the 1980s and 1990s to play on gravel, but not anymore.\u201cIn the Lower Mainland, the norm is to be on turf,\u201d said Kindell. There are six full-sized turf fields and another three-quarter-sized turf fields on the North Shore the club currently uses.District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little says they\u2019ve completed two turf fields in the last three years, and recently completed the rebuilding of another at William Griffin Park.While Little says he understands the need for more fields, he argues North Vancouver\u2019s location makes it harder to build new spaces.\u201cWe\u2019re on the side of a mountain, here. It\u2019s not always easy to find properly drained spaces,\u201d he said.LISTEN | How the World Cup will impact soccer\u2019s popularity in Metro Vancouver:The Early Edition8:38The Pitch \u2014 Vancouver\u2019s Road to the 2026 World Cup, Part 2The Early Edition\u2019s Zameer Karim looks at how the World Cup will impact the popularity of soccer in Metro Vancouver and where kids are expected to play.Surrey also feeling the pinchOther clubs in Metro Vancouver are also seeing an increased interest and registration in their soccer programs ahead of the World Cup.Jeff Clarke, the sporting director of the Surrey United Soccer Club, says their club is facing similar challenges.\u201cI think Surrey\u2019s doing its best, but the population\u2019s outgrowing the resources,\u201d said Clarke.The organization is working with the City of Surrey to build a new indoor soccer facility in Cloverdale and get young kids practicing in a state-of-the-art environment.A mockup of the Cloverdale Sports Centre at Cloverdale Athletic Park. Construction is expected to be complete in July 2026. (Submitted by the Surrey United Soccer Club)The facility, which will cost $7 million to build, will house a full-size indoor turf field.Clarke says the new Cloverdale Sports Centre will be completed by July 2026.\u201cIt\u2019s taken three years \u2026 right on the back of a World Cup, when all the excitement\u2019s at the highest level and we can capture it.\u201dInce says the opportunity to build upon the legacy of the coming World Cup, and the seven games coming to B.C. Place stadium in Vancouver, is too important not to grasp.\u201cIn soccer terms, it\u2019s the largest thing that\u2019s ever happened in this country,\u201d the club president said.\u201cThere are going to be so many young kids that are going to want to pick up the game,\u201d he added.\u201dAnd that\u2019s great for our sport, but where do we put those kids?\u201dWATCH | B.C. Place prepares to host World Cup:Aging B.C. Place prepares to host FIFA World CupIn the lead up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, attention is turning to one of Vancouver\u2019s most recognizable landmarks: B.C. Place. There\u2019s major excitement around the stadium playing host to seven games, but as CBC\u2019s Laurence Watt reports, there are also some big upgrades, bigger bills and debate around its location.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>British ColumbiaThe North Vancouver Football Club is calling on the City and District of North Vancouver to build more turf fields as it\u2019s running out of space for its players to train.Metro Vancouver soccer organizers fear field capacity won\u2019t keep up with interest generated by the World CupZameer Karim \u00b7 CBC News \u00b7 Posted: Nov [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,118,1],"tags":[120,116],"class_list":["post-5577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-british-columbia","category-indigenous","category-uncategorized","tag-british-columbia","tag-indigenous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}