Langley United Soccer Association (LUSA) and the Langley United FC Men’s club (LUFCA) announce the men’s club will officially merge into the Langley United Soccer Association in time for the September 2013 fall season.
Informal discussions began a few months ago with the hope that the men’s program could seamlessly join LUSA. It did not take long for the two groups to realize it was mutually beneficial for the two clubs to come together. LUSA needed to expand their adult programming in order to have a proper avenue for their youth players to “graduate” to men’s and women’s soccer, and LUFCA needed LUSA’s graduating players in order to continue to fill their men’s team rosters… something they were unable to do with their program structure this past year.
“The joining of the two clubs has been anticipated for years and we look forward to having the men’s club join into LUSA to create one large club with the common goal of building a soccer club all of Langley can be proud of,” said LUSA president Shelley Chandra, who thanked the leadership of LUFCA for coming forward and working hard to make this union a reality. “Langley United is inclusive and we are working to build our club even further as we continue our momentum towards becoming one of BC’s best soccer clubs.”
"Our Langley United men's club has worked closely with the Langley United Soccer Association for many years and our joining in to officially create one large club makes sense on many different economic, programming and community levels," said Mike Wagner, president of the men's club. "Most importantly, we now have one major club in Langley under which our entire soccer community can work together towards the exciting goal of building one of the best soccer clubs in British Columbia."
LUFCA will shortly disband their society and fold their operations into LUSA with the intention of commencing play under the LUSA banner beginning this coming September 2013.
With the union of the two clubs, Langley United becomes, by a significant margin, the largest soccer club in the Fraser Valley. With more than 2500 registered players and growing, this size allows it to compete in all areas with many of the larger clubs in the Lower Mainland. The increased registration can only help to build further on the excellent programs that are already in place in LUSA, as the club looks to expand on-field programs, the coach education programs, and its outreach into the community as Langley’s largest youth sports organization.