Printed by Friesens, WestCoast Reign: The British Columbia Soccer Championships, 1892-1905 (Self-published, 2012) by Robert Janning of Vancouver is a coffee table book that gives an account of the early days of soccer in British Columbia, as its subtitle suggests. Early B.C. soccer players and organizers from all walks of life are introduced chronologically, as are the fields they played on, and modes of transportation used to get to the games. The sport's first provincial association was organized from Nanaimo, the provincial hub for coal miners from Britain, in 1891. Janning describes how the governing body's dictatorial rule did not go over well with other soccer enthusiasts around B.C. and so their growing frustrations eventually resulted in "a political power struggle of mutinous proportions." Janning was inspired to pursue this project after taking a creative writing course from David Zieroth in Coquitlam.

Janning followed up with The History That We Share (Self-published, 2023) which describes the relationship that existed between the Snuneymuxw First Nation and the Methodist Church of Canada from the time of contact to the day Snuneymuxw children were first sent to the Coqualeetza Residential School in Sardis, BC. The book also depicts what day to day life was like in a BC First Nation community prior to the implementation of the Indian residential school system.Janning spent more than five years researching local libraries and archives for his material.

BOOKS

The History That We Share (Self-published, 2023)

WestCoast Reign: The British Columbia Soccer Championships, 1892-1905 (Self-published, 2012) 978-0-9877478-1-5

[BCBW 2023]