With the season hopefully just a few months away, the Cascades have recruited local and international talent
Despite COVID-19 putting the world of sports on hold, the Cascades have been hard at work, recruiting new members for their athletic programs. Recently, the Cascades announced that four new players — Jeevan Dhaliwal, Will Bundy, Taylor Richardson, and Tobias Spiess — will be joining their men’s soccer team in the upcoming season.
This will be the first season Dhaliwal and Bundy will play at the university level; however, both have impressive soccer resumes. During his time playing for Panorama Ridge Secondary, Dhaliwal was able to help lead his team to three B.C. AAA championships, while Bundy represented the province on Team B.C. for three seasons.
Regarding the decision to bring Dhaliwal and Bundy on board, Thomas Lowndes, head coach of the men’s soccer team at UFV, said: “Both Jeevan and Will bring athleticism and creative abilities to our attack for 2020. I am looking forward to [seeing] how they will both adjust to U Sport soccer and the physical defenders they will encounter. They are both strong 1-v-1 attackers and are able to create goal-scoring opportunities.”
“We identified after last season that we didn’t score enough goals in 2019, and we are hopeful that both Will and Jeevan will help up score more in the 2020 season.”
In addition to the two first-year players, the Cascades also signed former Douglas College player, Taylor Richardson, as well as international student Tobias Spiess, from Friedrich-Alexander University.
“Taylor is a player we have had our eye on for quite a while now; he had a very good season last year with Douglas College — he was a PacWest all-star and made the CCAA all-star team at nationals,” Lowndes said. “He is a mature player who I believe will do very well at the U Sports level. He is extremely quick and powerful and athletically can dominate defenders all game. I am excited to add a player of his quality and to see him gel with our returning attacking players for next season.”
When discussing the new international player, Spiess, Lowndes said: “Tobias is a player who we recruited through the same scholarship agency that current Cascades player Kadir Yagci came from. Tobias is a very technical player with a cultured left foot, and his vision and technical passing is something that we are looking forward to adding to the team. He can play both at centre back and central midfield, and I believe his versatility will help him see minutes early on in his Cascades career. He has grown up in a country which is obsessed with soccer and has played in some great environments with some very strong teams. We are excited to bring his level of experience to U Sports for next season.”
Many U Sports leagues have been affected by the coronavirus, and there is no information on whether or not the soccer season will begin the same time as previous seasons. If the season is not affected by COVID-19, Dhaliwal, Bundy, Richardson, and Spiess should begin their season with the Cascades in August.
