2008 marks the 22nd anniversary of the Cordova Bay Soccer Club’s World Cups.
There are several reasons which combine to make the World Cups distinctive and special and probably unlike any other club soccer event in the world:
Firstly, registration is based on individual players, not teams. Players registering from the same club team will be on different World Cups teams. More importantly, it means that same-age players from different clubs will be playing together, including different skill levels on the same team. Players who were rivals throughout the season are now team mates working for each other and forming new interclub friendships. It’s a community-bonding experience which carries over into new seasons.
Secondly, teams play in the colours of the national team they represent. National teams vary from one World Cups to the next, but always include Canada and a number of major soccer countries, plus other countries in the last or current FIFA World Cup. This year is particularly special because Victoria is one of the host cities for the FIFA 2007 U-20 Men’s World Cup. Therefore, festival teams will be chosen from its twenty-four participating countries and will include the four countries that will play here in August.
Thirdly, World Cups has an opening ceremony, were teams march by country to the lower field, led by their national flag to the music of their national anthem.
All this was started in Easter 1986 by Cordova Bay United, a team of 18 year-old boys wanted to leave a three-part legacy: to fundraise for a soccer tour to Scandinavia; to create a community event; and to celebrate the Canadian men’s soccer team which was in the FIFA 1986 World Cup that summer.
The Cordova Bay Soccer Club is proud that the founding legacies of the World Cups remain the same – youth development, community and celebration.
