Forge partners with Volkswagen to support speqtrum Hamilton through proceeds from Pride match featuring the Pacific Football Club
The Forge Football Club hosted a Pride soccer match sponsored by Volkswagen with proceeds going to support speqtrum, a 2SLGBTQIA+ program through the Young Women’s Christian Association of Canada’s Hamilton chapter.
Focusing on community building and development, speqtrum provides services, events and skill workshops to assist queer and trans young people in Hamilton. speqtrum also offers programs such as weekly check-ins, peer support with staff to chat and provide services over online platforms.
On June 1, the team announced on Instagram post that their June 10 home game at Tim Hortons Field would be held in celebration of Pride month.
"I think it’s important for us to host [the Pride match] for a number of reasons, but the least of all just visibility and going the extra mile to prove that Tim Hortons Field is an inclusive space,” said Shannon Connolly, manager of community partnerships for Forge FC.
I think it’s important for us to host [the Pride match] for a number of reasons, but the least of all just visibility and going the extra mile to prove that Tim Hortons Field is an inclusive space.
Shannon Connolly, manager of community partnerships, Forge Football Club
The team also announced multiple promotional and merchandise opportunities through which fans could donate to the program. These include a “#BeTheChange Pride Package’’ which contained a ticket to the game, a commemorative pride Forge FC shirt, a charitable $10 donation to speqtrum and a $10 matching donation made by Volkswagen.
In addition to the package, $5 proceeds from the team’s Pride collection sales will also be donated to speqtrum for the remainder of the merchandise’s supply.
"Our mandate in our community department is always to focus on healthy, active and empowered youth . . . We immediately thought of speqtrum when we were looking for a partner for this match because they work really closely with youth and families,” said Connolly.
Our mandate in our community department is always to focus on healthy, active and empowered youth . . . We immediately thought of speqtrum when we were looking for a partner for this match because they work really closely with youth and families.
Shannon Connolly, manager of community partnerships, Forge Football Club.
The first 3,000 fans who attended the game were given a Pride Forge FC bandana as part of the team’s giveaway. Unique visual elements were present at the match, including custom corner flags as well as a rainbow-coloured armband for Kyle Bekker, the team captain for the Forge.
Per Connolly, approximately 200 tickets were donated to speqtrum on behalf of Forge and Volkswagen and given to 2SLGBTQIA+ youth from across Hamilton to attend the match.
Per Connolly, approximately 200 tickets were donated to speqtrum on behalf of Forge and Volkswagen and given to 2SLGBTQIA+ youth from across Hamilton to attend the match.
Playing against the Pacific Football Club, the Forge lost 0-1 after a late game goal by forward Djenairo Daniels. Both teams played a tightly contested game all throughout the match. After a scoreless first half, a misplay by Forge players Dom Samuel and Triston Henry allowed Pacific FC forward Daniels to notch a wide-open goal in the 85th minute of play.
Despite a 56.4 per cent possession rate for the Forge, the Pacific’s 16 shots and relentless offense managed to overpower the hometown Hammers and bring the visitors to victory. After the game, the Forge sit in third place in the Canadian Premier League standings with four wins, four draws and two losses.
The Forge continue to make donations to speqtrum with merchandise purchases from their 2023 Pride Collection along with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
After a breakthrough summer and fall season, Miles Green becomes the first Marauder to be chosen in round one of the Canadian Premier League’s U Sports draft
The Marauder men’s soccer team had a season like no other this past fall. The team clinched their first OUA title since 2012 and the season saw numerous players step up in big ways. One of the players to do so was fifth year striker, Miles Green.
Green’s ability to score helped his team on numerous occasions. He scored a total of six goals over a ten-game regular season and added two more to his tally in the postseason. He was also able to add three assists to his statistics.
The team’s striker is no stranger to making an impact on games. During Green’s summer season, playing in Ontario’s semi-pro League 1, the striker was able to score 23 goals in just 20 games.
His composure in front of goal, as well as various other attributes caught the eye of many, including coaches at the professional level. These aspects of his game also gave Green his first feature on the Ontario University Athletics all-star team.
“I think the first thing that got Forge interested in me was my scoring numbers but I think they also saw my versatility and creativity because I can play more than one position. I think it's something they liked,” said Green.
“I think the first thing that got Forge interested in me was my scoring numbers but I think they also saw my versatility and creativity because I can play more than one position. I think it's something they liked.”
Miles Green
It was at this year’s Canadian Premier League U Sports draft that Green was selected to attend the training camp of Hamilton’s professional soccer team, Forge Football Club. This gives Green the possibility of earning a roster spot on the team.
A spot is not guaranteed for Green though. For each CPL team, there are only 23 roster spots.
Green’s ability to play multiple positions on a forward line, hold the ball up, take defenders on the dribble and, most notably, score will put Green in great standing to earn himself a spot. As a player who hasn’t been in a major spotlight before this previous year, Green’s quick rise is noteworthy.
“I had a lot of ups and downs throughout my years at [McMaster University] and it showed me things don’t need to be linear. Progression in both sports and life don’t need to be linear. It’s something I think we all need to give an understanding to,” explained Green.
His rise has caught the attention of many and has helped to bring fans out to Marauders soccer games. The men’s side had a high of 425 fans in their OUA semi-final match, in which Green scored twice.
The CPL season begins in early April, meaning training camp is soon beginning. He hopes to make the team and grow from there, all while having pride in what he’s accomplished at McMaster University.
“Winning OUA was a dream. I’ve wanted to win it before I came to Mac. I’m excited for what this will all do for the McMaster and Hamilton soccer programs,” said Green.
"Winning OUA was a dream, I’ve wanted to win it before I came to Mac. I’m excited for what this will all do for the McMaster and Hamilton soccer programs."
Miles Green
The impressive feat that Green has accomplished will have great impacts for the McMaster men's soccer program as a whole. Though he may not return back to McMaster soccer next season, his name and accomplishments will be well known throughout the Hamilton community for a long time.
Founded in 2019, Forge FC has made considerable progress in becoming one of Canada’s fastest-growing soccer clubs, representing Hamilton in the highest spotlight
This past January, the Silhouette covered Forge FC’s rise in popularity in the region and beyond. Although their season is about to end, the club has achieved considerable success in the past few months that should not go unnoticed.
Their most noticeable success story comes from the high mountains of Mexico, where the club from Hamilton had the opportunity to compete in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football Champions League against one of the largest clubs in the continent, Cruz Azul. Although Hamilton’s best couldn’t force an upset, losing zero to one and one to three against the Mexican giants, they managed to make a statement to foreign clubs there is a new force in southwestern Ontario.
“It has been a busy season. We have hosted tens of thousands of fans over 17 home games, including our first-ever Champions League tie and Canadian Championship Final losing to [Toronto] FC on penalties. It has been a strong season, something we are used to by now, but that has been positively reflected in our growing crowds and supporters,” said James Hutton, one of the Sales Leaders at the club.
More recently, men’s Canadian soccer has also taken a rise in popularity. In March this year, the team managed to end a 36-year drought of not qualifying for the World Cup. To get to the grand stage in Qatar, the team won against big names such as the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica among others.
“On top of the club success, being able to leverage the men’s World Cup run has been big in shifting soccer interest locally, specifically with our growing league, [ the CPL],” explained Hutton.
With the regular season behind them, Forge are ready to move into the playoffs and fight for another Canadian Premier League (CPL) title.
“We want more postseason success! Since the league was founded in 2019, we have been in the finals every year. We have two big games against Calgary, which we beat in the inaugural finals. We are away in Calgary this weekend, then host them in the second leg on the 23rd for a place in the finals. With some luck, the top seed Ottawa will slip up and we will host the finals as well,” said Hutton.
As Forge is a new club, promoting the club brand means a lot to the reputation of the club. This includes activities such as engaging with the community, game activities and more.
“It takes a strong mix of many things such as game activities, reaching out to different communities, and spreading the Forge brand around. We hosted hundreds of kids at our Skills Clinic, run by Forge players. Just last week we hosted our first Spark Summit, connecting professional women in sports business and inspire conversations around fostering gender equity in sports. Finally, in November we are looking at leveraging the World Cup games to help convert soccer fans in Canada Red to Forge Orange. . . We need to keep doing everything we can to drive fans to supporting Forge.” said Hutton.
While more fans start getting familiar with the new club around the block, the players and the staff at Forge do not fail to impress. Having already made an appearance on the continental stage, the club aims to make even further progress in the coming years.
With the season being up in the air, Forge Football Club still prevails in the end.
Forge Football Club, Hamilton’s team in the Canadian Premier League, won their back-to-back championship after scoring two-nil against the Halifax Wanderers Football Club in the title game of the 2020 season.
A typical season consists of 28 matches lasting from April to October; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was shortened. It has become known as the Island Games, comprised of seven matches between the eight teams in the first stage, utilizing a round-robin format. Afterwards, the tournament goes into the group stage, in which the top four teams compete against one another. The top two teams advance and compete against each other for the title.
Kyle Bekker, the captain and player with the highest score on the team, understood that he had to bring the team together to get the morale high to compete at such great levels.
“We spoke about it just being a business trip and knew what guys were giving up and the sacrifices people are making to go make a tournament happen and going away from family and loved ones for a significant time. If we’re going to do this, we’re coming back home with the trophy at the end of the day . . . It became militant at times. It was a battle every single day. We got [to the final game] and we achieved that . . . There’s obviously good days and bad days in the bubble. We just have to get on with it,” said Bekker.
“We spoke about it just being a business trip and knew what guys were giving up and the sacrifices people are making to go make a tournament happen and going away from family and loved ones for a significant time. If we’re going to do this, we’re coming back home with the trophy at the end of the day . . . It became militant at times. It was a battle every single day. We got [to the final game] and we achieved that . . . There’s obviously good days and bad days in the bubble. We just have to get on with it,” said Bekker.
David Edgar, former Premier League player for Newcastle United Football and centre-back on Forge FC, echoed similar sentiments as Bekker. Edgar exclaimed that carrying the mentality before the pandemic into the bubble is what propelled them to the championship, despite having to leave a young family for such a long time.
“This [tournament] was extra hard. But in all honesty, I attacked it like a prison sentence, where you mentally focus and lock in for one job only. Yeah, you miss certain things and meals. But winning it makes it worthwhile,” said Edgar.
“This [tournament] was extra hard. But in all honesty, I attacked it like a prison sentence, where you mentally focus and lock in for one job only. Yeah, you miss certain things and meals. But winning it
Edgar went on to say that the bubble was very unique and acted as a family with other teams there. “It’s also not the friendliest of places, lots of testosterone running around with the competition. You go about your business and hold yourself to certain standards,” said Edgar.
[/media-credit] David Edgar cheers on Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson scoring the first goal of the match at the 60th minute.
Despite the team having won a championship the previous season, they knew the pressure of a title game doesn’t change.
“We definitely felt the weight of it being a championship game. We were lucky enough to have a core group from our first year come back and be a part of this, which definitely helped . . . But going into that final game, the excitement will always be there. Definitely, a feeling of we been here and we know what was expected of us,” said Bekker. “It felt more unique. Overall, we won both now and that’s the hardest thing to do. We won in a league and tournament football and you can’t afford to lose in a tournament,” said Edgar of repeating as champions.
“We definitely felt the weight of it being a championship game. We were lucky enough to have a core group from our first year come back and be a part of this, which definitely helped . . . But going into that final game, the excitement will always be there. Definitely, a feeling of we been here and we know what was expected of us,” said Bekker.
After their championship victory comes their first match of the 2020 Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football League, having qualified from winning the 2019 season of the CPL, playing in El Salvador. The team will play against Municipal Limeño of El Salvador. Bobby Smyrniotis, head coach of the team, says that with the El Salvadorian league commencing Oct. 10, it gives them two matches to view their opponent’s playstyle to prepare for the match. “[I] gave the [players] a full week off to decompress then back [to] work at Tim Horton’s Field, six days a week . . . Looking forward to another opportunity to compete continentally for our club. The guys really relish the opportunity to play,” said Smyrniotis.
“[I] gave the [players] a full week off to decompress then back [to] work at Tim Horton’s Field, six days a week . . . Looking forward to another opportunity to compete continentally for our club. The guys really relish the opportunity to play,” said Smyrniotis.
Their match against Municipal Limeño will happen on Thurs, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m.
The Canadian Premier League is the first division league of soccer in Canada, kicking off their inaugural season in April 2019.
Hamilton’s Forge FC will be one of the CPL’s founding clubs, joining Cavalry FC (Calgary), FC Edmonton, HFX Wanderers FC (Halifax), Valour FC (Winnipeg) and York 9 FC in York Region. A Port City team in British Columbia and another in Ottawa are expected to join.
Hamilton’s team, aptly titled Forge FC, will play home games out of Tim Hortons Field, keeping the upper bowls closed and keep capacity at an initial 14,000, allowing attendees to have a more intimate viewing experience.
Hamilton has been linked to a professional soccer team as early as June 2013, when reports of a potential professional soccer league launching in Canada first emerged.
In February 2016, the ownership group, including Hamilton Tiger-Cats owner Bob Young and investors from the Canadian Football League sought permission from city councillors to place a dome over Tim Hortons Field in order to allow year-long activity for a soccer league.
May 2017 saw Hamilton as one of two cities accepted by the Canadian Soccer Association for professional club membership when the Canadian Premier League was unanimously approved.
Forge FC was officially unveiled on July 12 as the sixth team to join the Canadian Premier League. The name was chosen to represent Hamilton’s past as an industrial city while complimenting the city’s effort to forge ahead and build its future. Their team colours will include ‘spark orange, platinum steel and waterfall white.’
Greg Dunnett, the Senior Director of Business Operations at Forge FC says that the name pays homage to Hamilton’s heritage.
“We picked the name Forge FC because we think it really ties into the brand of the city,” said Dunnett. “It ties back to the heritage of the steel mills and the manufacturing industries but really talks about how we believe Hamilton is a city forging ahead, forging forward.
Club memberships will be going on sale in the fall, but the club is currently hosting a deposit drive which will allow members to hold their spot in the queue once memberships go on sale.
With the $50 deposit, fans can reserve their spot in line to select their seats at Tim Hortons Field at the membership level that best meets their needs. Further, exclusive benefits that include a personalized Forge FC scarf, co-founder board membership, exclusive Tim Hortons Field experiences and discounts on Forge FC merchandise.
“We’re going to come in at a price point that you can you can go and not blow your wallet, so the need for it is that as a young person,” said Dunnett. “What’s really exciting about the first year is you get to make that connection from the start; the Bulldogs have been around for 20 years, the TiCats have been around for [60] years and [Forge FC] isn’t even 150 days old, so it’s something to connect to.”
Over the next six months, Forge FC will be holding tryouts around the country, keeping a quota for Canadian players on the field.
Over the next six months, Forge FC will be holding tryouts around the country, keeping a quota for Canadian players on the field.
