By Azad Palani
A jam packed Willoughby Stadium for an all-Langley derby in the Canadian Championship would be an incredible occasion, and now it's actually possible.
After we won the League 1 BC title last weekend with Langley United we qualified for next season's national cup - the biggest soccer competition in the country. There we could face our local Canadian Premier League side Vancouver FC, which would be brilliant for everyone in the community. But hopefully not in the first round.
As head coach of Langley United and assistant coach of Vancouver FC it would be great to get an opening round win with both teams. From the second stage onwards there are home and away ties so that would be two home matches for me which would be very interesting.
The relationship between Langley United and Vancouver FC has been a key part of this success, in what was our first ever season competing as a franchise in the League 1 BC we had 11 players take part over the course of the season, from either the Vancouver FC Under-19 academy or first team players competing as part of an affiliate agreement between the two clubs.
Ultimately we both form an integral part of the same pathway - which now runs right through from grassroots football to the professional game within one domestic ecosystem. So working together makes sense and has also now proven very successful.
Langley United Soccer Association (LUSA) will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026. With the slogan 'soccer for life' we are a community based club for the community, by the community. I have been coaching here for 13 years and I now have a son with the U-8s and a daughter in the U-10s who have both been involved since U-4s.
Whatever the club does for the boys it does for the girls which is something I really appreciate as a father. We have all the different grassroots programmes and adaptive programmes for those with visible and invisible disabilities and offer recreational and competitive adult programmes.
We kicked off the season with LUSA aiming to be a competitive team right from the start - while supporting player development and continuing to hone the skills of those who want to play at the next level. Which is pretty much the whole squad. We had a young roster with Brody Thomas at 24 as captain. He's been with the club since early childhood and played a monumental role in leading the younger guys and as the season went on we continued to get support from VFC's developmental players.
With just two games left we dropped down to second after losing to Altitude FC in the run-in, but after reigning champions TSS Rovers slipped up on the Friday night we came from 2-1 down to secure the title on the final day. Vancouver FC Under-19 player Axl de Vries equalized with 30 minutes left, before Amir Ghasemi scored a penalty with the last kick of the game which led to some wild celebrations.
It was a great relief after a busy few weeks.The training sessions with Vancouver FC are in the mornings and my training hours with LUSA are in the evenings so that's how I manage it.
Our young Vancouver FC players like Dominic Joseph, who is on a developmental contract, also played for LUSA to continue to get playing minutes. So LUSA provided a platform for VFC, to have players come and play down. And then at the same time Matheus De Souza and Sukhman Gill who is a long time LUSA player - guys like them who were doing well in the League 1 BC team got opportunities to get called up to the first team with Vancouver FC during the season.
It's working both ways, all with the same goal of giving our young talent the best possible chance. If a player either needs us to continue supporting their development and if they aren't getting minutes with VFC they have the opportunity to come down and train with this League 1 BC team. And vice versa.
So we do have some of the players from the LUSA team training right now with Vancouver FC's first team because they've had a successful season and are deserving of it - players like Amir and Joel Badger are prospects to keep an eye out for.
From August 6-8th, Vancouver FC is hosting a combine at Willoughby Stadium from 12-3pm each day for boys born 2007-2010. The Vancouver U-19 academy team competes in the Fraser Valley Soccer League Premier Division and I'd encourage local players who are aspiring to play at that next level whether it be CPL or going to university or competing at League 1 BC - to start the process.
The thing is if you are part of the academy you get to be seen by the first team staff on a daily basis as more often than not we drop in and observe. The coaches report to us, share their feedback and if a player is doing well there we look to bring them into the first team.
This is an exciting time for young local talent as Vancouver FC and Langley United work together in a unified, long-term approach to player development - integrating pathways from youth to pro across both organizations.