What are last year's players up to?

The 2025 League1 BC season is around the corner and we’re curious … what have last year’s players been up to? Just a few updates: 

Suka Behery cheesing for the camera as the team took to the field for warm-up at their playoff game last July.

League1 is about providing players the opportunity to showcase their skills and potentially move to the next level, just like Jazmine Wilkinson just did! She’s off to the Ottawa Rapids FC of the new Northern Super League - read about it!  And it doesn’t end there - it’s an exciting time for one of Harbourside’s top goal scorers, Suka Behery. In addition to celebrating his daughter Zeyna’s first birthday, he has signed a professional contract with Alexandria Sporting Club, a second division team in Egypt. We look forward to following along as these two crush the professional world!

Jazmine Wilkinson taking on a squad of Burnaby FC players last season.

A large cohort of last year’s Harbourside players were students. We caught up with men’s captain, Fergus Hall:

“I played my final season with StFX university in the fall where we won our second consecutive AUS championship. I also finished my degree with my graduation being in May. Now I’m back home playing with Harbourside teammate Charlie Purcell for Comox United as we begin to prepare for the upcoming season.”

Fergus Hall in action at the Q'unq'inuqwstuxw Stadium.

Callum Weir, one of Harbourside’s goalies from last year, played for the Vikes this fall:

“Since the season ended with Harbourside in July, I was straight back to playing with UVic for the 2024 USports season as well as playing with Pacific FC. With UVic, I managed to break various USports records. I set a new regular season clean sheet record, had the fewest goals against in the country, best save percentage in the country and least goals against per game, and was named a CanWest First Team All-Star. I’ve also started working on an education degree to become a teacher, which I am excited about. This summer, I have some exciting things lined up, but other than that I've just been working hard in school and soccer, and managed to get some off time in Mexico with my family over the holidays. I’ve started working with a company in Toronto, which makes really good grip socks. I’m excited about that partnership. Beyond that I’ve been preparing for whatever life has to throw at me!”

Callum Weir directing the troops from net.

Women’s team member Ruby Nicholas also had a standout season with the University of Victoria:

“Since finishing the 2024 Harborside season last year, I played my third CanWest season for UVic.  Our season was one of the most successful we’ve had in recent years!  We finished second in the regular season for the competitive Pacific division, and fought hard to earn a silver medal in the CanWest championships, which booked our ticket to Usports Nationals in Halifax. Competing at Nationals with my teammates against the top Canadian teams was an incredible experience and one of my favorite memories yet with the Vikes. 

Some personal highlights for me this year included being named CanWest Player of the Year, being named to the USports All-Canadian team, and becoming a co-captain of the Vikes. 

I’m super excited to return to Harborside and reunite with the team, and look forward to representing Nanaimo again this summer!”

HFC's photo storage is filled with Ruby photos because she is always on the ball!

Speaking of representing Nanaimo - when Harbourside’s local players are waiting for the next League1 season, they are playing for another one of Nanaimo United’s teams. Alex Dedame and Declan Brown, for example, have been playing on the NUFC Division 1 men’s team. On the women’s side, Larissa Stefanek, Carli Rey, Shea Battie, Maddy Dawson, and others have been representing the NUFC Premier women. Shea Battie is one of the team’s current leading goalscorers.

Shea Battie preparing to defend a corner kick.

Men’s team member and NUFC Division 1 player, Matthew Coburn, has had a busy year:

“Right after Harbourside last year I went straight into a VIU preseason with Kevin Lindo again. Played my final year of university soccer which was bittersweet. After VIU, I went straight into playing for Nanaimo United. While the season hasn’t gone how we would’ve wanted, it’s super nice to have high level soccer year-round in Nanaimo. 

My time coaching has really opened my eyes to the other part of the game and I’ve gained a new appreciation for the work that goes into session planning and game management. I’m assistant coaching a U13/U14 BCSPL boys team and we have an incredible group of talented kids that all mesh really well with each other. I always look forward to showing up to training, games and fundraisers. Some of the boys even came out to watch my VIU games which was super cool. I hope to be with the group for some time and continue developing my coaching style and career.”

Matthew Coburn locked in during the men's playoff game last July.

Who will be joining the Harbourside crew this year? 2025 is a year of transition as players come and go and we take what we learned last season to mastermind the best possible experience for everyone, fans especially! Hang tight - there’s some exciting new developments on the horizon.