KAMLOOPS – A student-athlete with experience playing for top clubs in his native England is the latest addition for the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men's soccer team after head coach John Antulov announced that Ben Finley has committed to the 'Pack.
 
A forward from Preston, ENG, Finley has suited up for notable clubs throughout a prodigious youth career such as: Blackpool, Preston North End and Salford City. Both Blackpool and Preston North End are clubs that have spent time playing in the top division of English soccer.
 
"The thing I like about Ben is his ability to take players on and go at guys. He can hit a ball with both of his feet, can play out wide and also drop in a little bit behind so I'm really excited with what he can bring to the table for us not just in regard to scoring goals but also setting them up," said Antulov. "He's a really well-rounded attacking player and will give us some real opportunities to put the ball into the back of the net."
 
Playing for the youth teams of professional clubs since the age of 14, Finley is excited at the chance to take on a new challenge in Kamloops.
 
"I've decided to join the WolfPack to test myself out of my comfort zone," said Finley. "Following an injury I sustained in the summer of 2023, it gave me a good opportunity to assess where I was at in my playing journey, and I felt a fresh start was exactly what I was looking for." 
 
After deciding to look for that fresh start, Finley was pointed in the direction of Canadian university soccer by a former teammate at Salford City who now plays for Algoma University in the Ontario University Athletic Association.
 
"He explained the opportunity out here and the lifestyle to come with it, and that was then I decided to get looking at playing in Canada. Luckily for me TRU was interested in adding me to the team," said Finley.
 
Playing an important role in Finley making the decision to come to the TRU was Rebirth Soccer, who helps connect players from abroad with university coaches in North America. Antulov credits their work in making this possible. 
 
"Rebirth soccer have been able to help me find some good quality players," said Antulov. "To be able to get these kinds of players with this talent is massive for our program and being able to work with Rebirth and forming a good partnership with those guys bodes well for us going forward."
 
Representing and once captaining Lancashire at the U16 level at a national tournament, Finley brings plenty of high-level experience with him to the 'Pack.
 
"It's huge for us, we obviously aren't one of the big schools so to be able to bring in this level of talent really bodes well for our program to be able to challenge the big schools," said Antulov. "To be able to add good, quality kids that will make an immediate impact on our program is really a good sign for us. It helps our whole team to train with players of this caliber and it brings up the level for all of our guys to be competitive in a really tough Canada West division.
 
Receiving scholarships at both Salford City and Blackpool FC, Finley plans to study journalism at TRU.
 
"I'll hopefully be able to bring to TRU a leadership mentality and lots of goals," said Finley. "If I can work hard and apply myself at the top of the pitch, hopefully it can be an example to the rest of the team behind me to work just as hard."