Ryley Van Maanen added to Kodiaks soccer team

Jul 7, 2021 | 11:44 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s soccer team has added Coaldale local Ryley Van Maanen.

Van Maanen is a centre-forward who grew up playing in the Coaldale Thunder system, before spending last year with Lethbridge Football Club and the Vancouver Whitecaps ‘Caps 2 College Academy program.

Standing at 6’4”, Men’s soccer head coach Sean Carey says his height advantage will give the Kodiaks offense “additional flexibility”.

“Ryley is going to be one of the tallest guys in our whole league,” says Carey. “He’s obviously great in the air and with his footwork. He’s going to be a good target player for us if we want to change the system we want to play.”

For the first time in his career, Van Maanen will play post-secondary and says he’s excited but it’s foreign territory for sure.

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“I’m pretty excited to play for the college and I want to win championships,” says Van Maanen. “I’m wanting to get some playing time this fall, so I’m going to work hard and hopefully get to it.”

He states he would like to help the Kodiaks repeat as Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference champions.

With the fall season just around the corner, Carey can’t wait to get Van Maanen and his full recruiting class in for their first Kodiaks training camp.

“It’s the same with everybody else, we just need to bring Ryley along and get him to be part of the program. We’ll get him into the training sessions and he definitely has an opportunity in the next few years to be an impact player for us.”

Preparations are underway for the delivery of a 2021-22 post-secondary athletics season.

by Connor Gunn