Chilliwack’s rapidly expanding soccer scene got a little bit bigger last week.

The Chilliwack Football Club confirmed their intention to field a U-21 mens team in the Fraser Valley Soccer League, a circuit that starts play in early September and continues until April.

“For kids playing youth soccer right now, they can look beyond the U-18 level, and get three years in the U-21 program,” said Glenn Wilson, who will coach the new team. “It’s always beneficial to give players more options.”

CFC has fielded a mens’ U-21 team in the Pacific Coast Soccer League the past two seasons.

In year one, they took the PCSL title, downing Victoria United in a championship thriller. They limped through this season with a 2-6-2 record.

With the addition of the FVSL squad, the most dedicated players will now be playing soccer year round.

“We had some players show interest in this, so when the opportunity came up, we grabbed it,” Wilson noted. “There’s not so much travelling in this league, and the standard of play is not quite as high as the PCSL. But it’s a good stepping stone out of youth soccer.”

Last season, the FVSL had eight teams, all Lower Mainland based.

The Poco City Rovers led the league with a 12-1-1 record.

The Golden Ears Strikers were the cellar dwellers with a record of 2-12-0.

“The fact that our players want to continue playing year round is a credit to them,” Wilson said. “They’re a pretty keen bunch, and the FVSL season is going to be useful for keeping them together, keeping them sharp and preparing for the spring.”

The new team will play their games primarily on Friday nights, with the venue still to be determined.

They may use the new turf field at Townsend Park, or the grass pitch at Exhibition Stadium. The Friday night time slot has the new team bumping up against the established Chilliwack Rapids, who often play FVSL Premier games on Friday nights.

How those two groups co-exist moving forward will be interesting to watch.

The current setup holds promise for the Rapids, who may be able to draw talent from CFC’s U-21 team for their division one and premier squads.

“We’ve had some conversations with CFC about how things may look moving forward,” said Rapids manager Roop Virk. “It could have a slight impact on our division one team, and the conversations so far have been about how we can work together, continue to grow youth soccer and be loosely affiliated.”

Rapids coach Greg Hamel sees local soccer entering uncharted waters.

“It’s a new scenario and I really don’t know how it will affect the Rapids,” he said. “I know that at our division-one tryouts last year, there were only one or two kids who would have been young enough to play U-21 soccer.”

Hamel is intrigued by the possibility of a linear feeder system, with players advancing from U-21 to division one to premier.

At the same time, the Rapids have long functioned as an autonomous group — the thought of getting too closely tied into CFC may be worrisome.

Wilson said a long-term goal of CFC might be to secure their own berths in the division one and premier leagues.

“Obviously, the Rapids have those berths right now,” he noted. “Right now, it’s more of a player-sharing arrangement with them. But down the road, I see it making a lot of sense for the two groups to merge.”

For his part, Hamel isn’t ready to walk down that road just yet.

“We’re working on bridging our relationship with them because we want to be a part of building youth soccer,” Hamel said. “We want what’s best for the young kids coming up. It’s just all new ground to us right now.”

CFC is definitely not done expanding. Wilson said there are plans afoot to get something going on the womens’ side as well.

Get more information on the Fraser Valley Soccer League online at .