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“Our fanbase is growing, our product is growing, and on the field, we’ve got more points this year than last year.”

On the field, the Foothills crew was forced to deal with some challenging personnel issues this year, as breakout-player-in-waiting Elijah Adekugbe missed the entire season after suffering an Achilles tendon injury in pre-season, while Dominic Russo was only available for six games.

But with a focus squarely on developing local Calgarian talent, Wheeldon’s team brought in younger players from their club’s academy and still tied on points with the Portland Timbers under-23 team, although it wasofficially second in the Northwest Division on point-differential.

It all goes to show what Wheeldon believed before the club kicked-off for its first season in 2015: That there was talent in Calgary, and if that talent was given the opportunity, it would shine.

With talk growing louder about a domestic Canadian professional soccer league launching in the next year or two, the Foothills team is proving that Calgary would be an ideal landing spot for a franchise and that there is talent that is ready.

The club has already provided a pathway for the likes of Brad Kamden, Sean Melvin, Dominick Zator and Tyrin Hutchings to find professional employment, and the pipeline coming up through the program doesn’t appear to be drying up anytime soon.

If and when a Canadian pro league does launch and a team finds it way to Calgary, it would appear that the on-field infrastructure is already in place for a competitive team to kick off on Day 1.

Off the field, there are still things to work out, though. The Foothills crew played its home games on their third new field in as many years in 2017, making the Calgary Soccer Centre their home after playing at Glenmore Field last year and debuting at Hellard Field in 2015.

“I think we’ve got the on-field product nailed, the results are speaking for themselves, and we’re doing it with local players,” Wheeldon said. “But we’ve gotta have a home venue.”

daustin@postmedia.com