Adding to the list of former players of the Yorkton United Football Club to join the CIS University Soccer ranks, Brandon McCallum's 2014 season will be one of new challenges for himself and the UBCO Heat as the Kelowna based school are set to enter the CIS for their inaugural first division season this month. That new challenge also led to McCallum staying in Kelowna for the summer for the first time in his career with the Heat, opting to remain on the West Coast to play his club footy in the summer with Kelowna United to prepare for the upcoming campaign.
Now a veteran on the Heat following two seasons on the roster after a redshirt freshman year, McCallum mentioned that staying in Kelowna for a summer to prepare for the CIS season gave him valuable match experience he unfortunately could not receive playing in his home province. The BC second division providing more matches and structure than the current model in Saskatchewan.
"It was definitely a benefit to stay in Kelowna from a variety of perspectives when it came to being acclimatized to the Okanagan weather to getting more matches and playing a similar style of play all summer," mentions McCallum of his decision to locate himself in Kelowna year round for 2014. "Playing in the BC second division gave me far more time on the pitch playing in games and even if the level of play was below what we see at the university level it was a really positive experience to have that structure of a club playing a full schedule this summer."
McCallum adds that while in Yorkton he did the same amount of training, the lack of matches in Saskatchewan was a factor in his decision.
"I would do the same amount of training in Yorkton individually, but with the lack of league play in Saskatchewan at the men's level it was definitely nice to get to play all summer where back in Saskatchewan there may not have been as many opportunity for matches and team training."
Following a full summer with the Kelowna United, August for McCallum has been spent with the Heat as the university club has been on their preseason tour and preseason training portion of their schedule leading up to their season opener in Prince George on the weekend. Playing some CIS clubs in addition to a trip out to Seattle to play NCAA D-II and D-III schools in the Pacific Northwest, McCallum felt that the game experience was helpful to show the work that will need to be done this season.
"Our manager scheduled a lot of friendlies this August in addition to two a day training sessions which I felt was the best way to get into things with tons of training and game experience," says McCallum who added that the teams the Heat played gave them valuable time on the pitch in addition to motivation for the season that lies ahead. "The NCAA schools we played during our trip to the States showed us the work we have to do to get to the level we want to be at this season and gave us good matches so it was a good experience to spend our preseason playing a lot of friendlies against quality opposition."
McCallum also spent time switching between positions, playing some time at fullback after moving to centreback in the past few seasons for the Heat.
Playing on the flank for the Kelowna United in the club season, the Yorkton product mentions that his manager has been interested in trying him out at both positions for potential use in a versatile role switching between fullback and centreback this season.
"My manager mentioned that he wants to see how versatile I can be and if I can handle playing both positions after playing fullback with the club team this summer," explains McCallum who adds that switching roles always means getting used to the differences in positioning. "I have played both positions a lot over the past few years, but there are some differences between playing on the outside and inside of the backline that you have to be aware of and I think I have been handling that well in the preseason."
Helping McCallum's cause has been plenty of playing time, now a veteran on the team after spending the first few seasons learning the ropes, McCallum started in the majority of the friendlies this August and played in nearly every match. Something that should surely help him get comfortable at playing either fullback or centreback one the season begins.
Making an away trip to Prince George for their first CIS match, McCallum said that training has been filled with excitement and intensity over the past couple of weeks as the Heat are very much looking forward to their chance to make a statement in their first division debuts.
"Training has been intense over the past few days as we are practicing everyday until we make the plane trip to Prince George." "Everyone is excited and working hard, looking at the prize that is in front of us and ready to go out to prove we are ready for a season in the CIS."
As for expectations, McCallum feels that with an influx of new schools in the CIS in addition to UBCO that there is a chance for the Heat to make a run in 2014 even if it will be their first year in the top flight of Canadian University soccer.
"It is hard to make a prediction or expect where we are going to finish at the start of the year but as always we plan on working hard and trying to finish as high up the table as we can," says McCallum of the Heat's 2014 chances. "There are a lot of new schools in the CIS and in our division that we will get to play as well as the already established programs so if we can make the most of our opportunities and play to the best quality when we are on the pitch there is a chance that we can make some noise in our first season."
