In March of 2017, Joe Belan made his first pro-soccer fact finding trip to Saskatchewan. Two years and two months later he launched the Saskatchewan Summer Soccer Series, three friendlies that could pave the way for professional soccer to come to the province for the first time.

The three friendlies were staged in May, July, and August and featured a home team named the Sask Selects and primarily consisting of Saskatchewan high performance players. SMF Field in Saskatoon was utilized as the team’s home field and the games were contested against Calgary Foothills, Vancouver Whitecaps U23, and TFC2 respectively. The Selects were defeated by Calgary 2-1, drew the Whitecaps 0-0 later losing on penalties, and beat TFC2 2-0 before crowds ranging in size from 2600 fans to just over 3000.

These friendlies were billed as ‘test events’ for a future professional soccer team in Saskatoon that would play in the Canadian Premier League. If the games drew well it would encourage the potential Saskatchewan ownership group to move forward with a pro team. However, the Series was much more than a test event in both scope and purpose. To understand the nature of these friendlies it helps to understand Belan and the characteristics that have come to exemplify his approach to establishing pro soccer in Saskatchewan.

When analyzing Saskatchewan for the suitability for a professional soccer team there are some serious challenges. The province is one that gets behind its teams exemplified by the Riders and more recently the Rush. But Saskatoon would be the smallest market in the Canadian Premier League and currently does not have a suitable stadium. Although there are great soccer clubs and talented players in the province, there is no established history here of moving players on to professional opportunities. Kaylyn Kyle and recent Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame inductee Kelly Parker are notable names on the women’s side of the game while Kevin Holness is the most accomplished player on the men’s side with Brett Levis making waves more recently. But these talented outliers certainly do not indicate an established pathway to high level soccer.

But Belan also cites another critical challenge in starting a team in Saskatchewan:

The Series was an excellent tool for us to gain an “on the ground” perspective of the market and the challenges, as well as the opportunities, in launching a professional soccer club in Saskatchewan. We gained a lot of information and data and uncovered some important issues that fell outside of our pre-conceptions, all of which would have been impossible had we not launched the Series. The Series also presented the opportunity to build some important relationships in the community and solidify our “social license”.

So for Belan, all of these challenges posed questions and those questions required analysis and answers. And this methodical approach of study, planning, preparing, and testing has been Belan’s signature in what has become a methodical and purposeful build toward launching a professional team in 2021.

This is why the Saskatchewan Summer Soccer Series was so much more than a test event. Certainly ticket sales were one indicator that Belan and team were watching, but they were also building on a number of fronts. Well before the dates of the games, several Saskatchewan coaches and soccer clubs were contacted and they began assembling a team of the province’s top players. Belan met with representatives from the Saskatchewan business community in both Regina and Saskatoon and secured many sponsorships for the Series. Belan and a team of dedicated volunteers conducted a market segment analysis and planned how to target and market to several of those segments.

By the date of the first game in May versus Calgary Foothills a ticketing platform had been employed that not only allowed attendees to purchase tickets like any other professional sports setup, but also allowed ticket scanning electronically. The matchday treatment was complete and multifaceted with beer gardens and food options, big screen, DJ, announcers, and supporters’ march. It was a game that had the feel of a real pro game rather than a friendly, and looked and felt very similar to the game day approach and atmosphere at Canadian Premier League games. For later games other features included, live bands, Kaylyn Kyle signing autographs, and ticketing deals with the Saskatoon Exhibition.

In assessing the Series, the first indicator is attendance. The games drew well with all three games drawing above 2500 fans and two of the three drawing above 3000. Considering these matches were friendlies and considering that for two of the three games the weather was not ideal, those numbers look strong. Additionally, those numbers compare favourably with what some Canadian Premier League games have drawn. Belan, however, is cautious with his assessment.

Despite some good attendances for games, considering it was a first-time event, we need to see an improvement in attendance and level of local corporate support in Saskatchewan if we are going to make it to a level to be able to be a successful CPL club. Some of the gaps are undoubtedly a function of limited bandwidth we had in terms of resources and no full-time administration, so we need to take this into account as well.

But Belan’s assessment goes far beyond the attendance to all matters he and his team were beginning to address with staging the Series.

Overall, the Series results were in line with my own expectations – there were some very encouraging aspects, which provided us with the confidence that with the right execution plan, the project has feasibility, however, there were other aspects of the Series which were below expectations, and will require some attention or a new approach. One of the most encouraging things that we saw from the Series was the quality of the play on the field. The standard of play from our team surprised many people, with many spectators, even non-soccer people, commenting that the games were exciting. We invested in the team and made sure the players were adequately prepared for a level of competition that was much higher than what they have experienced in their careers thus far. I think we demonstrated to the soccer community that, as an organization, we are committed to winning and putting a high standard of performance on the pitch each and every game. Additionally, we were able to offer fans a great overall game day experience, including the pre-game festivities and entertainment.

So now is the time for taking stock of those things that were successful and those that need work. For Belan and his team, this means that they have a lot of work to do to be ready for 2020. But it is important to recognize how much they have accomplished in a short period of time and considering their starting point.

We will look to continue to build and strengthen the organization, which is a logical next step as we scale up the size and scope of our operations towards establishing a professional club. The Series provided a good introduction to our staff and volunteers on what it is like to work in a fast-paced and demanding environment, and the importance of attention to detail and effective systems and processes. Overall, the Series was a good start for us in building the foundation of an organization, considering that we were starting from scratch only a few months ago.

To these ends, Belan and crew intend to run an expanded Series in 2020 in the hopes that this will adequately prepare Saskatoon to enter the Canadian Premier League in 2021. The job ahead of them is daunting, but they are committed to the task.

There are a number of moving pieces at the moment with respect to next steps, however, our goal is to integrate the 2020 Series as part of the pathway towards an expansion team in 2021. We are considering a 7-8 game Series in the summer of 2020, which we believe will do a number of things: (i) provide more preparation time and testing, and (ii) build momentum, and begin capturing the broader Saskatchewan community and casual sports fans to come out and join the movement for pro soccer in Saskatchewan, and (iii) provide an effective launch pad for the club to seamlessly integrate into the League in 2021 and challenge the other clubs from the outset. We also hope that we can arrange to have a few CPL teams come to Saskatchewan to play in an expanded Series next summer.

So Saskatchewan soccer fans will have much to look forward to as the Saskatchewan Summer Soccer Series returns in 2020 and as the build to the Canadian Premier League continues for 2021.

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