For Geoff Sache, life in Chilliwack can be summed up in the three F’s.
Farming. Family. Football.
If agriculture represents the underlying fabric of Chilliwack, then farmers are the needle and thread that tie it all together. A soft-spoken father of four, Sache represents the next generation of Chilliwack farmers — a local kid who grew up on the family dairy farm and now follows in his father’s footsteps, working on that 70 acre plot of land 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
“If you grow up around it, it comes naturally to you, and there are quite a few young farmers around Chilliwack who are in the same situation as me,” the 35-year-old said. “It’s what their dads and grand-dads did. It’s what they do. If you’re not born into it, it’s very unlikely that you’re going to wind up working on a dairy farm.”
That said, Geoff Sache doesn’t farm just because Jim Sache farms.
He does it because he likes it.
And for all the long days, Sache juggles his duties well enough to spend lots of time with his wife Natalie and kids Mya, Malachi, Mason and Maddock.
His other baby is his football team, the Chilliwack Huskers.
A longtime football coach and player, Sache stepped away from the sidelines two years ago, succeeding his father as team president.
The Huskers present more challenges that he’ll ever find on the farm, starting with back to back 0-10 seasons and a community that sometimes doesn’t seem to care.
But Sache cares, a lot. He hopes the day comes soon when the Huskers have turned things around, and local kids dream of wearing the black and green jersey.
“That starts with showing the city that we’re here, because a lot of people don’t even know the club exists,” he said. “If we show them we’re not just a team on a field, that we’re getting involved, hopefully they’ll support us as well. I believe junior football players can be role models. I want guys to know that if they work hard and stay focused, this is there for them. That’s what junior football can do.”