Introduction

My name is Joshua Banton. I am the captain of TRU Men’s soccer and have been playing for the last 6 years. I arrived in Kamloops and played for the Wolfpack in 2017. I am originally from London, England and moved to Canada 6 years ago at the age of 21. I am an ex-professional footballer (soccer player) and played for Southend United from the age of 10 till I was 19. Football has been my passion since before I could walk, and I have played since I was 3 years old. I am a National Champion with TRU Men’s soccer which is the first time in our program and university’s history. I believe that my experience and skills have helped the program reach the highest heights and made an immediate impact winning the bronze medal at nationals in 2017 as a first. I was also awarded All-star rookie team in Canada west in 2017. I have started every game available for TRU and have been part of the most successful part of our program’s history so far. As I enter my final year, I will show you what our season looks like from our perspective. Here’s a look at the teams we play against, our schedules, how long it takes to get there and more. Also, the TRU Women’s soccer is identical to ours in terms of schedule, teams we play against, stadiums played at and much more.  

2022 U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championship Early Bird Tickets – YouTube – Here’s a look at our preparation for Nationals, Narrated by me, Joshua Banton

Here’s a look at our full schedule:

All home games are played at Hillside Stadium Location – 944 Dalhousie Dr, Kamloops, BC V2C 6N6 Atmosphere – Type of pitch – Astroturf Home of the Thompson Rivers University

UBC @Home – 26/08/2022 Result – 2-0 Win UVIC @Home – 27/08/2022 Result – 3-0 Win

UFV @Away Location – 34638 Bateman Rd, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7Y8
Time of travel from Kamloops – Approximately 3 hours by bus
Atmosphere – Average to Low attendance.
Type of pitch –Grass
Date played – 02/09/2022Result – 1-0 Win
Home of the – University of Fraser Valley

TWU @Away
Location – 22500 University Dr, Langley, BC V2Y 1Y1
Time of travel from Kamloops – Approximately 3 hours 15 minutes
Atmosphere – Excellent. Great numbers in attendance. Students are very vocal and dress up in costumes.
Type of pitch – Grass
Date played – 03/09/2022
Result – 1-2 Lost
Home of the Trinity Western University

UNBC @Home -09/09/2022
Result – 2-1 Win
UNBC @Home – 10/09/2022
Result – 2-1 Win

USask @Away
Location – Concession, 48 Stadium Crescent, Saskatoon, SK S7N 1M3
Time of travel from Kamloops – Approximately 12 hours 50 minutes or 3-hour flight
Atmosphere – Average attendance. Very big stadium not a lot of people to fill the stadium but passionate fans.
Type of pitch – Astroturf
Date played – 17/09/2022
Result – 1-1 Tie
Home of the University of Saskatchewan

UoC @Home – 23/09/2022 Result – 0-1 Lost

UoA @Home – 24/09/2022 Result – 2-1 Win

TWU @Home – 30/09/2022 Result 2-1 Win

UFV @Home -01/10/2022 Result 0-0 Tie

UBCO @Away – We play this team back-to-back as they are our local rivals and geographically it makes sense to play them like this. Every team will play their local rival E.g., UBC Vs UVIC on the same weekend. The only team that does not have a local rival is UNBC (University of Northern British Columbia (Insert pic)
Location – 3257 Knowledge Ln, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7
Time of travel from Kamloops – Approximately 2 hours
Atmosphere – Average to good. Small pitch so you can hear the fans on the side of the pitch as they are very close. Quite a few students will watch.
Type of pitch – Astroturf
Date played – 07/10/2022 & 08/10/2022
Result – 2-1 Lost & 0-0 Tie
Home of the University of British Columbia Okanagan

UVIC @Away
Location – 1901 McKenzie Ave, Victoria, BC V8P 2L5
Time of travel from Kamloops – 6 hours including 1 hour 45-minute travel by ferry.
Atmosphere – Low to average. It gets pretty cold by the time we play them and not a lot of fans will come out to support. Big stadium. On a good day with good weather, I have seen thousands of fans in the stadium.
Type of pitch – Grass
Date played – 21/10/2022
Result – 0-0 Tie
Home of the University of Victoria

UBC @Away
Location – 6288 Stadium Rd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
Time of travel from Kamloops – Approximately 4 hours
Atmosphere – Low to Average. Big stadium but not a lot of fans in the stadium,
Type of pitch – Astroturf
Date played – 22/10/2022
Result – 0-0 Tie
Home of the University of British Columbia

Playoff Game UoC @Home – 28/10/2022
Result – 0-1 Lost
This meant we was knocked out of playoffs. Fortunately for us we hosted the Nation Championship Finals at Hillside Stadium which gave us a birth to the Championships to play against the best 8 teams in the Nation including us. All three games below were played at home

National Finals Quarter Final Game Vs Macmaster University. Number 4 ranked team in the Nation Date -10/11/2022 Result – 1-1 Tie – 5-4 Penalty shootout Win

National Final Semi Final Game Vs University of Cape Breton. Number 1 ranked team in the Nation Date – 11/11/2022 Result -2-2 Tie – 5-4 Penalty shootout Win

The Finals at the National Championship game Vs UBC. Number 3 ranked team in the Nation Date – 13/11/2022 Result – 1-1 Tie – 6-5 Penalty shootout Win

2022 National Champions: Thompson Rivers University Here is a video of our journey at the National Championships 2022

TRU WolfPack win nationals – YouTube – A video of the winning penalty to win us the National title.

 

Coaches John Antulov, Head coach of TRU Men’s Soccer –pic – Email:jantulov@tru.ca

Mark Pennington, Head coach of TRU Women’s Soccer – Email: mpennington@tru.ca

Captains

Joshua Banton

Taken by Snucins

Jan Pirretas

Jackson Gardner

Ainsley Grethers

Camryn Curts

As a player who has officially played my last game for TRU I can truly say that I am grateful for so many things because of this team, my coaches and school. I ended up as a National Champion, from not making playoffs in 2016 to National Champion it has been one heck of a journey, one that I hope you got to see if only a little from this Vlog. I have had the privilege of meeting some incredible people and got to travel all over Canada. Not only have I made friends but people I consider to be my family. Oh, and I am also one semester away from graduating with a major in Psychology and a minor in Communications.

This was an historic year for both the men’s and women’s program as the Men’s team won a National title for the first time in program and the university’s history and the Woman’s team made playoffs and made it to the final four best team in Canada west, they were only 1 win away from making it to Nationals themselves. This was the first time they had achieved this.

My last game My statistics:
Games played – 70
Games started – 70
Goals scored – 12
Game winning goals – 7
Assist – 4
Minutes played – 6,602
Canada West All Rookie Team 2017
National Championship All Star Team 2022
2 Canada West Bronze Medals
1 National Championship Bronze Medal
1 National Championship Gold Medal
4 seasons 4 Medals

If you think you have what it takes to be a part of the pack or you just want to have some fun and tryout, then keep your eyes peeled on the following website for information about TRU soccer tryouts. This normally occurs in February and March. For more information about the tryout will come out around then.