Jim Swelander was a fresh-faced teenager right out of high school when he first began building sports teams forming the Burnaby Dartmen Soccer Club to play in the Hastings East Senior Men’s Soccer League.
The Dartmen went on to win the league championship that first year, 1973, which put them into the B.C. Senior Soccer League where they rose from becoming Division 7 champs in their first year to to eventually Division 1 in 1987.
During their first season at that level they competed in the league cup playdowns beating many Premier Division teams en route to capturing the Imperial Cup crown. That earned them promotion to the top loop. They were the only club in league history to go from Division 7 to the Premier League.
Along the way, Swelander turned the Dartmen into a multi-sport club to include baseball and hockey so they could compete throughout the year. He not only founded those teams but he coached and managed many of the baseball squads since that sport was another big passion of his. Dartmen club teams went on to win numerous championships at various levels and tournaments before leaving the club in 1994. But because of Jim Swelander, the Dartmen carried on.
