Surf Coaches Announced

JASON THOMSPON - Jason is Westside Youth Soccer’s Technical Director. Jason came to WYSA after spending 10 years as the Technical Director for TOFC in the BC Soccer Premier League. Holding a National B License, and a National Youth License, Jason’s focus is on supporting all players and coaches in our club, but we are excited he will also be coaching Surf teams in the first year of the new Surf program.

BRIAN DEWAR - Brian is a National B Licensed coach with more than 15 years of experience in the BC Soccer Premier League. A former youth player from Guelph, Ontario, he has dedicated his career to player development, club leadership, and growing the game in British Columbia. Brian's coaching achievements include a Provincial Premier Gold Championship in 2016, Provincial B Cup Silver in 2014, and recognition with a Community Sports Award. While proud of those accomplishments, Brian takes the greatest pride in helping players achieve their goals, with many former players progressing to university and college programs, high-performance pathways, and professional opportunities.

MARCO LEITE - Marco is a former professional soccer and futsal player from Brazil with extensive experience both on the field and on the sidelines. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education and currently possesses a Canada Soccer C Licence, with plans to pursue his B Licence in the near future. Internationally, Marco represented Ireland as a futsal coach at the UEFA Futsal Cup in Switzerland during the 2010/11 season. He later served as Head Coach of the Canadian U16 Futsal National Team, leading the squad at the AMF Futsal World Cup in Paraguay in 2021. He also worked as Assistant Coach with the U21 team in Guelph, Ontario.

SAM WITTON - Sam is our resident English coach with a vast knowledge of the game and a semi professional playing career, he is currently C licensed and looking to get onto his Concacaf B license.

ERIC SCRAMSTAD - Eric has coached youth soccer for more than eight years and has a competitive playing background, including three seasons in Alberta’s ACAL futsal league. He currently holds a Canada Soccer C Licence and is working toward obtaining his B Licence, demonstrating his commitment to excellence in player development and coaching.

JEREMY SCHAUBROECK – Jeremy's coaching philosophy focuses on creating a positive learning environment where players can build confidence, develop technical skills, and foster a lifelong love of the game. Jeremy hold a Canada C License, along with Active Start, Fundamentals, Learn to Train, Soccer 4 Life, and a Goalkeeper Diploma.

PRECIOUS ORISE - Precious is a Nigerian-Canadian soccer coach with a strong foundation in grassroots football development. Holding a Canada Soccer C License, I have a passion for player growth, technical development, and creating positive learning environments for young athletes. With experience rooted in the grassroots game, I’m dedicated to helping players build confidence, improve their skills, and develop a deeper understanding and love for the sport.

ASHLEY BUECHLER - Ashley has represented Team Manitoba as a youth player, an adult player, and at the highest level with the University of Manitoba. She continues to play whenever possible and is currently pursuing her C Licence. Coaching allows her to give back to the game by helping players build technical skills, tactical awareness, confidence, and character, while fostering a strong team culture and creating memorable experiences along the way.

< Older Post

WYSA launches the Okanagan Surf program!

By Matt Holbrook • June 1, 2026

The following is the exciting press release from Surf Nation in San Diego about our new program. HERE is the club's GAME CHANGE presentation if you missed it in the theatre! San Diego, CA, June 1st, 2026 – Surf Nation is proud to announce the launch of its newest partner club, Okanagan Surf, further expanding the organization’s international footprint and strengthening the player development pathway in the surrounding communities of Kelowna and greater Okanagan region. Recognized as a leader in youth soccer, the Surf brand and community are renowned for their professionalism, on-field performance, football education, and, most importantly, their deep commitment to long-term player development. Surf Nation’s mission is to create the best of the best experiences and opportunities for players, coaches, and families; the addition of Okanagan Surf represents another step forward in that commitment. Effective immediately, Westside Lakers’ Development and Selects program will transition to Okanagan Surf, bringing the globally recognized Surf identity to British Columbia. Led by a senior leadership team of sports management executives and coaches with deep ties to the community, Okanagan Surf will continue to provide a high quality, player focused experience and will now have access to provide further opportunities for its players and coaching staff within the Surf Nation community. Okanagan Surf has demonstrated a strong commitment to grassroots development and sustained player progression. Its leadership team and coaching staff are fully aligned with Surf Nation’s standards and philosophy, dedicated to delivering a structured, high quality developmental environment. By joining Surf Nation, players and families at Okanagan Surf will gain access to expanded resources, enhanced development opportunities, and the support of a global soccer network dedicated to helping players reach their full potential both on and off the field. “We are delighted to bring the Surf brand, our program and resources to the Westside Lakers community.” Says Andy Prosser, Director of Surf Nation. “It was clear through early conversations that we are mission aligned and a project both organizations are excited about. Our aim is to create a robust competitive program with enhanced resources led by local leadership that now offers expanded opportunities locally, regionally, and nationally within the Surf Nation community. We are excited to welcome the Okanagan Surf community and look forward to becoming the premium destination for youth soccer within the Valley.” “We are thrilled to officially launch Okanagan Surf! By joining the Surf Nation family, we’re bringing a new standard of excellence to our local players and coaches.” Says Matt Holbrook, Executive Director. “This isn’t just a new name, it’s a comprehensive 10-month program from September to July designed to unlock every player’s potential through premium events, an enhanced training program, and world-class resources. We are proud to lead the way for soccer development in the Okanagan and look forward to supporting our athletes every step of the way on their soccer journey.” Additionally, Okanagan Surf players will now have direct access to Surf Select, Surf Nation’s elite player identification program for athletes ages U9 through U17 at both the regional and national levels. The Surf Select program draws from Surf Nation clubs across North America and provides selected players with opportunities to compete in some of the top domestic and international events in world football. About Surf: For over 49 years, Surf has proudly stood as a pioneer in youth soccer with a proven track record of developing players into international youth training centers, professional academies, the collegiate ranks, and professional teams around the world. With a legacy rooted in excellence, we’ve contributed over $12 million in charitable donations, claimed more than 20+ national championships, and helped launch the careers of countless professional, collegiate, and international players. At Surf, we are driven by one goal: to be the Best of the Best both on and off the field. Okanagan Surf joins our 60+ Surf affiliates to comprise what we are proud to call Surf Nation.

GAME CHANGER presentation

By Matt Holbrook • May 12, 2026

TO RESERVE UP TO 2 SEATS AT THIS GAME CHANGER EVENT, CLICK HERE TODAY WHILE THEY LAST! Current non-wysa players and parents on select/development teams are welcome to join for the May 31 screening only.

WYSA team and individual photos!

By Matt Holbrook • April 9, 2026

THE PHOTOS ARE IN!

Summer Camp registration is open!

By Matt Holbrook • April 1, 2026

SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE

By Matt Holbrook • March 29, 2026

Here is the schedule for the indoor dome sessions from march 30-april 11. here is the schedule for the outdoor spring season from april 13-june 26.

WYSA receives 2 year license renewal as Quality Soccer Provider

By Matt Holbrook • March 15, 2026

Jeremy Schaubroeck named Technical Lead for Grassroots Programs

By Matt Holbrook • March 15, 2026

AGM RECAP

By Matt Holbrook • February 13, 2026

On March 5, 2026, WYSA held their 2026 Annual General Meeting. The club wishes to thank Chris Fraser for his time with the club, as his VP term expired AND HE DID NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION. Jacob Salway has stepped into the VP position, Berge Simonian moves from Treasurer to Director at Large, and Andy Preston joins as WYSA's new COYSA representative. THANK YOU TO THOSE MEMBERS THAT ATTENDED TO HEAR ABOUT OUR GROWING PLANS AND STATE OF THE CLUB. Here is the 2026 AGM package with board + staff reports, and 2024-25 financials, that were presented and accepted.

WYSA and Little Kickers Okanagan announce U4-U5 partnership program

By Matt Holbrook • February 2, 2026

Skill Centre program update

By Matt Holbrook • January 26, 2026

BRIEF HISTORY The WYSA Skill Centre was introduced in 2024 by previous club staff. This program was meant to create a higher level training program that fed into team placements for coysa league play. However, upon reviewing the program and its goals in early 2025, Matt (WYSA ED) and Jason (WYSA TD) determined that the program was too focused on creating teams, with a limited number of players benefiting overall, and didn’t accomplish the club’s goal of total player development. Quite frankly, it was excluding players and narrowing a “team” focus too much. Canada Soccer has a comprehensive Skill Centre structure and a mandate that clubs should follow, and one of the clear guiding principles is that “the underlying aim of Skill Centres is to provide the best environment possible to as many young players as possible for as long as possible.” (from the CSA’s document on Skill Centres across Canada) One of the struggles the club has had over many years was that many players drop out by 14 or 15 years of age, and without a larger base of players that have been developed and included, the club ends up not being able to field teams in the U15 or U16 age groups. This happened again last summer when we had to fold a planned U16 boys team and were required to combine a U14 and U15 girls team due to a lack of numbers overall in those age groups. We strongly felt that without addressing some of these structural issues with the next crop of 7 to 13 year olds in the Skill Centre, and to find a way to increase participation in those key age groups, we were destined to repeat those same issues year over year. WYSA decided the best course of action was that for the fall and winter (2025-26) program there would be no teams created until more players had an opportunity to join and train in an enhanced Skill Centre program. The philosophy was to encourage more players to experience better training over a 6+ month period. We made the adjustment to fully run the fall and winter program with staff coaches so that the training environment could be a monitored environment for all players. Our plan was to put development/select teams together again in the U7-U13 age groups by late winter (Feb/March), and we are on track to do this with the inclusion now of appointed coaches in the Skill Centre age groups. WHERE WE ARE AT We did accomplish the goal of getting more players into a regular training environment. In fact, we saw an increase in the Skill Centre registration in September by 30%. Some groups were bursting at the seems with double the number of players that joined, and some groups added a few more players to supplement the numbers and give more players these developmental opportunities. Yes we had some growing pains with larger groups, but we are now heading into 2026 with a head of steam to put together good development teams for spring play, with coaches that will be supported by our TD and staff coaches. TEAM FORMATION Now that the coaches are being put in place for each U10-U13 development team, those coaches will work with Jason to confirm the players selected for the development teams. Those players will be notified by February 20, and players not selected to a development team will be offered a spot on a recreational team for the spring season. For players NOT currently in the Skill Centre that wish to play on a development team in the spring, they should reach out to Jason ( td@wysa.ca ). Those players will be invited for 2 training sessions before February 20 to be considered for a spot on a spring Development team. For players in the U7-U9 age group, coysa and BC Soccer require clubs to balance those teams and they aren’t considered “select” teams. Jason will work with each of those age groups in lining up coaches and building teams before the end of this current development block. In the spring, U7-U13 Skill Centre teams will practice twice per week with a coysa or toysl game on weekends, whereas there will also be a recreational level at U7-U13 for players looking for less commitment than the Skill Centre program. WYSA will be entering U7-U9 teams in coysa’s regular balanced league, U10-U11 in coysa’s development league, and U12-U13 in the toysl league.