Thunder Bay Chill

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Thunder Bay Chill
Thunder Bay Chill logo.png
Full nameThunder Bay Chill Soccer Club
Founded2000;25 years ago (2000)
StadiumChapples Park Stadium
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Capacity2000
OwnerThunder Bay Elite Soccer Inc.
Head CoachTony Colistro
2024 1st, Deep North Division
Playoffs: Conference Quarter-finals
Website http://www.thunderbaychill.com

Thunder Bay Chill Soccer Club is a Canadian soccer team based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2000, the team played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer pyramid from 2000 to 2024.

Contents

The team plays its home games at Chapples Park Stadium. The team's colours are white and blue. The club also has a large youth program, with over 2000 youth players. [1]

History

The Thunder Bay Chill were established in 2000 by founder Tony Colistro. [2] They played their first home match on May 27, 2000, against the Wisconsin Rebels, losing 4–0. [3] In 2002, they were named the PDL Organization of the Year. [4]

In 2007, the Chill won their first Heartland Division title. [5] In 2008, the Chill became the first Canadian club to win the PDL National Championship, after the defeated the Laredo Heat in penalty kicks in the final. [6] [7] In 2009, the four Ontario-based PDL teams (Forest City London, Toronto Lynx, Ottawa Fury, and the Chill) created a pre-season round robin tournament called the Victoria Challenge Cup, [8] with the Chill emerging as champions, after winning all three of their matches.[ citation needed ]

From 2007 to 2013, they won the Heartland Division six times in seven seasons (finishing 2nd in 2009), [9] and qualified for the playoffs ten times in an eleven-year span from 2007 through 2017 (missing only in 2014), [10] as part of a dominant stretch in their history which included a five-year period, where they did not suffer a home loss until 2014. [11] In 2015, they moved their home stadium to Fort Williams Stadium, after splitting the past two seasons between the turf stadium and the natural grass field at Chapples Field. [12] They finished as Central Conference Champions five time over this period, earning them trips to the playoffs Final Four. [13] After their PDL Championship title in 2008, they advanced to the Championship final an additional three times in 2010, 2013, and 2017, but ultimately lost in the finals on each of those occasions. [14]

In 2018, the Chill formed a partnership with English Premier League club West Ham United through Global Image Sports, who are West Ham's North American partnership mechanism. [15] [16] [17]

In 2020, the Chill announced they would not play in the 2020 USL League Two season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [18] with the league later cancelling the entire season anyways. In 2021, the Chill once again withdrew from the league due to continuing travel restrictions associated with the pandemic (although the league did return to operate a season in 2021). [19]

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chill returned to the league for the 2022 season, [20] [21] also marking their return to newly reconstructed Chapples Park, which previously served as their home field until 2014. [22] [23] The team won the Deep North Division in both 2023 and 2024. [24] Their entry in the league in 2024 was uncertain with the league contemplating removing them, but following a vote of confidence from the other teams in the division, their entry was confirmed in January 2024 (however, the other Canadian franchise FC Manitoba was removed for 2024). [25] [26] In January 2025, it was announced that the club would not participate in the 2025 USL League Two season, due to a variety of reasons, including a weakened Canadian dollar, operational costs for transportation, accommodation, and meals, and league divisional alignments, with the hope of returning in 2026. [27] [28] They announced instead that the team would attempt to organize a competitive friendly schedule and possibily enter certain Cup competitions instead. [29]

Coaching staff

As of 5 June 2023
RoleName
Manager/First Team Coach Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tony Colistro
Assistant Manager Flag of England.svg Sean Pierce
Goalkeeping Coach Flag of Italy.svg Francesco Leuzzi

Notable former players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the PDL/USL2 team:

Year-by-year

YearLeagueRecordRegular seasonPlayoffsReference
2000 PDL 4–1–136th, Heartland (6)did not qualify [30]
2001 6–1–134th, Heartland (5)did not qualify
2002 5–1–126th, Heartland (8)did not qualify
2003 10–1–73rd, Heartland (8)did not qualify
2004 11–0–74th, Heartland (10)did not qualify
2005 6–1–94th, Heartland (7)did not qualify
2006 2–3–117th, Heartland (7)did not qualify
2007 10–3–31st, Heartland (7)Conference semifinals (R16)
2008 13–1–21st, Heartland (6)Champions
2009 8–5–32nd, Heartland (7)Divisional First Round (R32)
2010 12–2–21st, Heartland (7)National finals (F)
2011 12–2–21st, Heartland (7)National semifinals (SF)
2012 13–1–21st, Heartland (7)Conference semifinals (R16)
2013 12–1–11st, Heartland (7)National finals (F)
2014 6–1–73rd, Heartland (6)did not qualify
2015 9–3–22nd, Heartland (6)Conference semifinals (R16)
2016 7–5–22nd, Heartland (6)Conference semifinals (R16)
2017 9–2–31st, Heartland (6)National finals (F)
2018 6–1–75th, Heartland (6)did not qualify
2019 USL League Two 6–2–63rd, Heartland (6)did not qualify
2020 season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 did not play due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions
2022 6–3–33rd, Deep North (6)did not qualify
2023 9–2–11st, Deep North (7)Conference semifinals (R16)
2024 8–1–31st, Deep North (6)Conference quarterfinals (R32)

Honours

Head coaches

Stadiums

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References

  1. ↑ "Thunder Bay Chill - Club Recognition Award". Ontario Soccer Association . November 8, 2020.
  2. ↑ "About Us". Thunder Bay Chill.
  3. ↑ "Chill Play 1st Ever Home Game - May 27, 2000 VS. Wisconsin Rebels". Thunder Bay Chill. May 27, 2000.
  4. ↑ "2006-2001 Memories". Thunder Bay Chill.
  5. ↑ "Chill win Heartland Division for the First Time!". Thunder Bay Chill.
  6. ↑ "Gold and Thunder Bay Chill defeat Heat to Claim PDL Championship". MLF News. August 19, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Colistro steps down in Thunder Bay". Ontario Soccer Association . January 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Inaugural Victoria Challenge Cup". United Soccer League . March 20, 2009. Archived from the original on December 21, 2009.
  9. ↑ Vis, Matt (April 21, 2017). "Know Your Opponent: Thunder Bay Chill". Ocean City FC .
  10. ↑ Dunick, Leith (May 10, 2019). "Chill look to rebound after disappointing 2018". TB News Watch.
  11. ↑ "Chill rebound". TB News Watch. June 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ Vis, Matt (July 2, 2019). "Chapples stadium pitch on track to be ready for next year". TB News Watch.
  13. ↑ Dunick, Leith (July 23, 2017). "Chill advance to PDL Final Four". TB News Watch.
  14. ↑ Villagracia, Reuben (August 6, 2017). "Chill can't hunt down Eagles". The Chronicle-Journal .
  15. ↑ "Thunder Bay Chill joins West Ham United North American Academy". Lake Superior News. March 11, 2018.
  16. ↑ Coreschi, Colton (March 27, 2018). "Chill Form Partnership with Premier League's West Ham". USL League Two .
  17. ↑ Rider, John (March 13, 2018). "Keesic takes advantage of new Chill partnership". The Chronicle-Journal .
  18. ↑ Dunick, Leith (April 10, 2020). "Chill to sit out 2020 season". TB News Watch.
  19. ↑ Dunick, Leith (February 2, 2021). "Thunder Bay Chill opt out of 2021 season". TB News Watch.
  20. ↑ "Thunder Bay Chill return in 2022". Lake Superior News. January 27, 2022.
  21. ↑ Dunick, Leith (January 25, 2022). "Chill returning to USL 2 pitch in 2022". TB News Watch.
  22. ↑ Dunick, Leith (January 30, 2022). "Chill set to rejoin rapidly expanding USL 2 in 2022". TB News Watch.
  23. ↑ Dunick, Leith (September 26, 2020). "City opens Chill's home field in Chapples Park". TB News Watch.
  24. ↑ Rinne, Gary. "Thunder Bay Chill 'defer' playing in USL2 this year". TB News Watch.
  25. ↑ Moskalyk, Gary (July 23, 2024). "Disappointed Chill face uncertainty". The Chronicle-Journal .
  26. ↑ Rinne, Gary (July 31, 2024). "Thunder Bay Chill could be ousted from USL League Two". TB News Watch.
  27. ↑ Goater, CJ (January 6, 2025). "Thunder Bay Chill not participating in 2025 US League Two season". CJUK-FM .
  28. ↑ Jacques, John (January 7, 2025). "Thunder Bay Chill Cools Down On 2025". Northern Tribune.
  29. ↑ "Thunder Bay Chill to defer playing in USL2 for 2025 Season". Net News Ledger. January 7, 2025.
  30. ↑ "Thunder Bay Chill Statistics". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
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