Kelowna United Football Club (KUFC) and Okanagan-based Valley First have joined forces with the goal of bringing soccer to even more Kelowna youngsters.
The new three-year partnership will help KUFC develop and maintain its dome and facilities at the Mission sports fields on Gordon Drive, as well as keeping soccer programs affordable and enable more at-risk youth to play soccer through subsidized fees.
As part of the agreement Valley First will become title sponsor of KUFC and the sports dome will be renamed the Valley First Soccer Centre.
“We’re excited to be partnering with KUFC,” says Kevin Smith, regional manager for the Central Okanagan at Valley First.
“Joining with the club is a great fit for Valley First. We’ve already firmly established ourselves as one of the leading financial institutions in the region; partnering with KUFC will enable us to further our support in the area. This sponsorship gives us the opportunity to deepen our connection with the Kelowna community while helping a strong, positive, local organization deliver a terrific program.”
KUFC President Mark Krehel is equally enthusiastic about the partnership.
“With 5,000 youth and nearly 3,000 adults playing soccer it is by far the most popular, by participation, sport in the Central Okanagan,” says Krehel. “Providing a place where we can nurture the growth and development of youth soccer in the Central Okanagan has been our goal since we opened our new facility 18 months ago.
“We’re very excited to announce a new long-term sponsorship agreement with Valley First. It won’t be long until you will see their logo and name on all our game jerseys and many other areas. Through this new agreement we will be able to reach even more young footballers in the region through Valley First’s support of the club’s camps, academies, coaching and player development.”
Beyond supporting soccer programming and the KUFC facilities, the partnership with Valley First will bring additional benefits to the club.
“Building strong communities is the cornerstone of any credit union,” says Smith. “Getting kids involved in sport is one way to build that passion and community pride. Another way is to ensure an element of supporting the community into everything we do.”
