TSS FC Rovers are a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada that play in

League1 British Columbia League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is a semi-professional men's and women's association football, soccer league in British Columbia, Canada, which began play in May 2022. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the British ...

. Established for the

2017 PDL season The 2017 USL Premier Development League season is the 23rd season of the PDL. The Michigan Bucks entered the season as the defending champions, but their title defense campaign ended with a loss in the Central Conference semi-finals. On August 5, ...

by general manager Will Cromack and head coach Colin Elmes, the Rovers are the under-23 team of the TSS Academy, one of the largest soccer schools in British Columbia's

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 Canadia ...

History

Founding

TSS (Total Soccer Systems) Academy was founded in 1997, based in Richmond, British Columbia.

PDL and WPSL era

In late 2016, they purchased the rights to

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

franchise of the

Washington Crossfire Crossfire Redmond, previously the Seattle Wolves and Washington Crossfire, is an American soccer organization based in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of t ...

, creating a team in British Columbia fielding their first roster in the spring of 2017. They have a supporters group called the "Swanguardians" in reference to the Rovers home stadium

Swangard Stadium Swangard Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. Primarily used for soccer, rugby, football, and athletics, the stadium also used to be home to the Simon Fraser Clan football team and the Vancouver Whitec ...

, who previously attended

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

games when they played out of Swangard Stadium, prior to their joining the MLS. When these supporters heard about the Rovers returning soccer back to the iconic stadium, they came out in support with much fanfare. The team has a stated policy of fostering Canadian talent, or players eligible for the Canadian men's national teams, stating every player must be "either a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or refugee or immigrant with an intent to one day wear the Maple Leaf." 2018 saw the founding of the women's side to play in the WPSL, notable signings included Canada WNT players

Jordyn Huitema Jordyn Pamela Huitema ( ; born May 8, 2001) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club OL Reign and the Canada national team. She scored her first national team goal at the age of 16 ...

and

Julia Grosso Julia Angela Grosso (born August 29, 2000) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Italian Serie A club Juventus FC and the Canada women's national team. She attained international prominence after scoring the ti ...

. In 2018, the men's side saw the team's first truly non-Canadian signing in Dutch, former

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

midfielder

Nick Soolsma Nick Soolsma (born 7 January 1988) is a Dutch footballer. Club career Netherlands Soolsma began his career in the youth ranks of Dutch side FC Volendam. During the 2007 season he played for FC Volendam's Under-19 side. He left Volendam at the ...

as a player-coach. The club competed with the

Victoria Highlanders Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The club was founded in 2008 and currently play in the League1 British Columbia. The team had played in the American USL League Two from 2009 to 201 ...

for the Juan de Fuca Plate, which was awarded annually to the best

PDL PDL is an initialism for: Politics *Democratic Liberal Party (Romania), Democratic Liberal Party (''Partidul Democrat Liberal''), a former political party in Romania *Labour Democratic Party (''Partito Democratico del Lavoro''), a former politi ...

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

club in British Columbia. The Rovers won it in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, the club updated their logo to include a

sword fern Sword fern is a common name for several ferns and may refer to: *''Nephrolepis'', a tropical genus of ferns, especially: **''Nephrolepis exaltata'', commonly cultivated as a houseplant, including the Boston fern *''Polystichum'', a cosmopolitan gen ...

, an indigenous plant to coastal BC.

League1 BC era

On November 1, 2021 it was announced that the club would be playing in the inaugural season of

. In addition, the club decided to change their ownership structure, to become fan-owned, similar to clubs in Germany, with fans having voting rights and a say in the team's direction. Fans will own 49% of the team through this initiative. In the debut League1 BC season, the men's team advanced to the Championship Final after finishing in second place in the regular season standings, where they defeated Varsity FC in penalty kicks to win the inaugural League1 BC title. As champions, they qualified for the national

2023 Canadian Championship The 2023 Canadian Championship () was the sixteenth edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Soccer in Canada, Canadian soccer, and the 22nd competition staged to determine the winner of the Voyageurs ...

Current roster

Men Women

Year-by-year

Men

Women

Notable former players

The following players have either moved on to the professional ranks after playing for the PDL/WPSL/L1BC team club, played for their senior national teams, or played professionally before joining the club. Men * Mamadi Camara * Gabriel Escobar * Thomas Gardner *

Jordan Haynes Jordan Markus Haynes (born January 17, 1996) is a Canadian professional association football, soccer player who currently plays for Valour FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Haynes began playing youth soccer at age five with Maple Lea ...

Patrick Metcalfe Patrick Metcalfe (born November 11, 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays for Fredrikstad. Club career Whitecaps FC 2 Metcalfe signed his first professional contract with Whitecaps FC 2 of the United Soccer League ...

Marcello Polisi Marcello Polisi (born January 24, 1997) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for Canadian Premier League side Valour FC. Early life Born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Polisi grew up in nearby Coquitlam. He began playing soccer at age ...

Matteo Polisi Matteo Mario Polisi (born April 15, 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays for TSS FC Rovers in League1 British Columbia. Early life Polisi began playing soccer at age four with Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC, where he played from 2 ...

Fugo Segawa is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a left-back for TSS Rovers in League1 British Columbia. Early life Beginning at age 12, Segawa played for SP Fute in his hometown of Ichikawa. At age 15, he left Japan to attend boarding sch ...

Desmond Tachie Desmond Tachie-Mason (born May 1, 1984) is a Canadian soccer player, who is currently playing and working as coach for the Vancouver Metro Soccer League club West Van FC. Career College Tachie played for the Vancouver Selects and attended Capi ...

Zach Verhoven Zachary Thomas Verhoven (born August 17, 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Canadian Premier League club Vancouver FC. Early life Verhoven played youth soccer with Surrey United SC from 2003 to 2009. I ...

Joel Waterman Joel Robert Waterman (born January 24, 1996) is a Canadian Association football, soccer player who plays for CF Montréal of Major League Soccer and the Canada men's national soccer team, Canada national team. Early life Waterman began playing ...

Kristian Yli-Hietanen Kristian Yli-Hietanen (born 31 May 1996) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Veikkausliiga club Gnistan. Yli-Hietanen holds a dual Finnish-Canadian citizenship. Early life Born in Tampere, Finland, Yli-Hietanen began ...

Women *

Emma Regan Emma Rose Regan (born January 28, 2000) is a Canadian international soccer player who plays as a defender for Danish club HB Køge. Early life Regan began playing youth soccer at age six with Burnaby Girls SC. She later played for Mountain Uni ...

Honours

Men

Major *

League1 BC League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in British Columbia, Canada, which began play in May 2022. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the BC Soccer Association as a p ...

Championship :: Champions (1):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Minor * Juan de Fuca Plate :: Winners (2): 2018, 2019 :: Runners-up (1): 2017

Combined

* Juan de Fuca Plate :: Runners-up (1): 2022

Supporters

The team is supported by The Swanguardians, a small group of supporters who stand at the south end of the pitch and support the team with banners, smoke displays, and original chants made primarily from Canadian songs. The group was formed in 2017 shortly after the founding of the team, and continues to support its former players in their college, professional, and national team careers on social media through their #AlwaysARover hashtag.

References

External links

* {{British Columbia Sports 2017 establishments in British Columbia Association football clubs established in 2017 USL League Two teams Soccer clubs in British Columbia Sport in Burnaby United Soccer League teams based in Canada Expatriated football clubs League1 British Columbia clubs Women's Premier Soccer League teams