Victor Mendes has been a leader in soccer for over three decades.
The 54-year-old Portugal-born and Kingston-raised soccer player and coach has made significant contributions to Kingston’s soccer landscape since he put on his first pair of cleats at the age of seven.
Discovering a passion for soccer
“For my family, soccer came first,” Mendes says on the support he received from his parents Jose and Laura.
While at Regiopolis-Notre Dame High School, he was named the boys senior soccer team’s most valuable player. He also played football and basketball in high school, but soccer was his true passion.
Mendes had some offers to play college soccer in the U.S. but decided to stay home and play for St. Lawrence College. There, he was named first-team all-star and most valuable player twice; he was the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association’s leading scorer on two occasions. Nationally, Mendes led the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association in scoring in 1992: the next year, he was tied for the national scoring lead.
Looking to the next generation
When his professional soccer career didn’t work out, Mendes knew what his next step would be. “I launched into an early career in coaching.”
In 1999, Mendes was named assistant coach of the Royal Military College Paladins women’s soccer team but soon moved to the men’s team. He took over the head coaching duties in 2003.
Over his 21 seasons at RMC, the wins were rare, but his players received life lessons that have led them to rewarding military careers. “We’re not here to win national championships, we’re here to attract the best leaders in the country,” Mendes says. “I have members of Special Forces who have played for me and people now working for the United Nations. The pride comes from what they do after they’re here and how they represent the college.”
Between 2004 and 2018, Mendes served as a video analyst with the Canadian Men’s National Soccer team. His analytical support has also helped teams from the National Soccer League and European teams.
From Canada to Italy and back
In 2022, Mendes was invited to be an unofficial adviser to legendary coach José Mourinho of Italy’s AS Roma. Mendes met Mourinho, also Portuguese, through Mendes’ friend and Roma assistant coach Nuno Santos.
“You come from a small city but there’s a recognition from people at a high level giving you credit and bringing you onto their staff,” says Mendes. “It’s like you are working at a fast-food restaurant and somebody asks you to work at a four-star restaurant for a month.”
Mendes has brought national team players to Kingston to give clinics for local players, promoted community outreach programs through the RMC soccer camp, and hosted coaches’ events at RMC.
For all his contributions to soccer in Kingston, Victor Mendes will be inducted into the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame this May. The honour means a great deal to Mendes.
“These are my roots; this is where I wanted to make soccer better. For me coming from an immigrant family, my dad was in the construction business for 47 years and he put up drywall in thousands of homes. He came with nothing; this was kind of like my launching pad to make sure we gave back to the community and the country that we came to and that was so good to us.”
Giving back to the community
Mendes’ love for local soccer continues with a new project. With partners Nick and Lori Cozman, he has been working for the last 17 months to arrange construction of a state-of-the-art indoor multi-purpose indoor turf facility at John Machin Soccer Park in Kingston’s east end.
The $20-million building will be privately funded, Mendes says, and will feature a high-performance centre, sports science area, a banquet hall for 325 people and a full-size indoor soccer field, among other amenities.
“This is how I’m giving back to the city because, to be honest, there’s nothing here, there’s no development of soccer because there’s no facility.”
The indoor facility, complementing the 10 outdoor soccer fields of varying sizes at Machin Park, will fill a big gap in the sport community. A number of Kingston sport organizations currently travel to Belleville to access indoor turf. The east end facility will be bookable year-round by sport organizations, providing safe training space, whatever the weather.
“This is a passion project for us and it’s my way of leaving a stamp on Kingston for the rest of my life,” Mendes says. “We hope to be kicking a soccer ball in October of 2026.”
“I love the city. Do I want to see soccer at the highest level here? One hundred percent. We need facilities and this is why it’s so important that I put my stamp on it. This will be my legacy that I’ve been looking for.”
