To start 2026, Hanover Soccer has three teams already in action with the Hanover Kickers in Division 1, the Hanover Strikers in Division 2 and the Hanover Sting in Division 3, all of which President Brian Froese believes are ready to be special.
Finally ready to roll
"It's something we've been waiting for all spring," Froese says with a smile. "We've had a lot of spring training, indoor gym sessions, and we had an overwhelming response to that. A lot of guys came out, and we were able to form three healthy teams. We've got our Hanover Kickers Division 1 team, they got promoted last year from the Division 2. That was very exciting for us. Then we have our Strikers, who also ended up getting promoted from Division 3 to Division 2, and then we have our Hanover Sting team, which is in Division 3. Three teams and, sort of, the top three divisions. There's a premier division yet, that's the pinnacle, but yeah, very competitive."
Positive program growth
Having three teams at various levels representing the Hanover Soccer program, Froese believes that it's a true statement to where things are going when it comes to their name in the sport. "It's a testament to the growth of soccer in our community," he says proudly. "With the Hanover Kickers, for example, we got a number of players back. Those who had played years ago prior to COVID. COVID, obviously, put a bit of a strain on the program, but now we've seen that we've basically fully rebounded from that. We've got a healthy group of young players coming into both our Hanover Strikers and our Hanover Kickers teams. It's a great place where some of these young guys get some experience and then find a spot on the Kickers. It's been awesome to see that growth and to see that continuation. The interesting part is that with the youth program, we've seen a significant increase in the competitive team's side of our program. That will eventually lead to those kids growing up and wanting to continue to play at a competitive level. I fully expect that we might even, at some point in the future, end up having to add an additional men's team."
Division 1 is a big deal
Having the Hanover Kickers now in Division 1, Froese says it's a huge deal, and the reasons why go back a long way. "It goes back to when the club was started," he says with a proud grin. "So, Hanover Soccer Club started in 2000, and it was one team. Within a year, we discovered, or Norm Anderson at the time discovered, that there were still a lot of players who wanted to play. So we very quickly had to form a second team, which today is still called the Hanover Strikers, which was originally from back then. The program has continued to grow to a point where, at our height, we had five men's teams. To put that into perspective, we're the only club in Manitoba that has three teams in the Manitoba Major Soccer League. All the other clubs are really just teams for the most part. Some of them are clubs like Bonivital, for example, and they'll maybe operate two teams. But we have three teams that, as I said, potentially might even end up with us adding more. It's the highest level of men's soccer, recreational men's soccer that you can play. Some of these players and, eventually, of course, our team are looking to get into the Premier Division."
Froese says the future is bright because of the talent on the teams. "Some of these players, the young players, might even have aspirations to go to university and play university soccer. That's where pathways begin to open up to maybe even pursue a more professional environment. Also, once you get to the Premier Division, it's there where you have the top teams, and the top teams are the ones that go to Nationals. Now you have an opportunity as a team to start travelling across the country to various tournaments once a year, and compete against other provinces. That's kind of where it gets sort of exciting. Is this the big leagues? No, you don't get paid for this unless you have a lot of sponsors. Maybe you don't have to pay for registrations and so on, but it's the pinnacle of men's recreational soccer. One division away from the top. So that's why it's exciting to come and see these young guys play."
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