City of Kelowna exploring next stages of CPL expansion
It seems CPL on Tour has left the City of Kelowna and the league wanting more as both parties explore the future of professional soccer in the Okanagan Valley.
Speaking to The Wanderers Notebook on Monday, Kelowna mayor Tom Dyas said the league has come back to the city following the CPL on Tour event, which saw over 6,200 in attendance, and expressed a desire to work together.
"They have reported back to us: the board decided they'd like to proceed and see if there's the possibility of putting something together and potentially up and operational in the next couple of years for the CPL in Kelowna," said Dyas. "There is a buzz — there's a true buzz — and excitement around this, not only at city hall but within the community."
Dyas added the first steps were to determine if professional soccer made sense for the city. After the success of CPL on Tour, and continued interest from the league, city staff are now in the process of doing an internal study to map out next steps as they relate to facilities and other guidelines. The Apple Bowl, which was the host site of the match between Vancouver FC and Cavalry, may seem like the logical venue choice but Dyas said staff are exploring several scenarios.
Staff are expected to come back to council in the next few months with suggestions.
When asked about potential investors, Dyas said there's been expressed interest from multiple individuals. Any path forward, he noted, will be heavily structured.
"From our standpoint, we're going to look at first stepping into the process of what we can accommodate within the city. The second step would be establishing an expression of interest to see which parties are potentially interested and doing a little bit of vetting of those parties and then establishing more of a formal RFP process with parameters and guidelines that would be in conjunction with what the CPL is looking for," explained Dyas.
Asked about CPL commissioner Mark Noonan, who was present throughout CPL on Tour, the mayor said the commissioner and city have built a good mutual understanding and relationship throughout the process. And, when speaking about Rob Friend, who grew up in Kelowna and is the owner of both Pacific and Vancouver FC, Dyas didn't shy away.
"He has a love of this community and also a love for the game of soccer. Those two parallel each other very well potentially into the future," he said.
The process is still in it's infancy but Dyas said the mutual understanding from both parties means everything is currently heading in the right direction. And although there may be opportunities in the future for other types of agreements, as is common with sports venues, the city is firstly concentrated on getting the sporting side sorted.
"It needs to be soccer first," said Dyas.
Cover Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
