Surrey United is a busy soccer club these days.
The club is partnering with the City of Surrey to build a new indoor training facility in Cloverdale Athletic Park, they recently held a casino-night gala to raise money for the project, and they've also started something they're calling “Project 60.”
Ali Wilkinson, president of Surrey United Soccer Club (SUSC), told the Cloverdale Reporter that Project 60 is part of the lead up to the club's 60th anniversary celebration in 2028.
"This is a big community," Wilkinson said. "The people in the club now don't know everyone that's been in the club in the past."
SUSC wants to close that gap on the past and keep the club’s history alive for the future. As part of their 60th anniversary celebrations, they hope to publish a club history book to share stories of past members. Wilkinson said there are many reasons why people joined the club and the club wants to hear those stories.
"We've got people that have come back to coach because they were players in the club and their parents would kill them if they played anywhere else—like we hear these stories all the time," she added. "So we have this big, audacious goal of creating a coffee table book called 'Surrey United: The First 60 Years.' We'd like to publish it on our 60th."
Wilkinson said the book will be dedicated to celebrating both the soccer community and the Surrey community and how they interact. She said they want to know all the different ways that Surrey United was part of someone's life.
"So we're hoping—through social media, word of mouth, all our conversations—that people will hear about Project 60 and send in photos and stories so we can include them in the book,” she explained. “Send in an anecdote. Send in a story. ‘I was a coach at Surrey United and I remember this one match when,' or 'I had this coach at Surrey United and they have no idea how much they impacted my life.' Next to teachers and parents, it's coaches, right? So we want to hear those stories too.”
Wilkinson said they want to hear from former players and parents, coaches, managers, volunteers, and anyone who had interaction with the club in any capacity.
Submissions can be emailed to: alumni@surreyunitedsoccer.com. Wilkinson asks that the following information be included: name, years connected to the club, a note about how you were connected to the club, all photo info such as who is in the photo and what is the photo of and when it was it taken and why the pic is important.
She noted anyone who wishes to help with the book can also contact the club.
"I think people underestimate the influence and the impact that either soccer, or (any) sport, has had in their life, or the impact they as a coach or a volunteer have had on someone else in, and through, youth sports," Wilkinson added. "I really feel that people just underestimate their ability to impact, in a positive way, kids' lives."
For more information on project 60, visit surreyunitedsoccer.com, click on “Events,” and then click on “Project 60.”
SUSC is based in Cloverdale and has thousands of members. A few years ago, the club gave just under $225,000 to help build the red fieldhouse at CAP on the corner of 64th and 168th.
