It feels odd to be writing this in October when we are all settled into our fall and nearly winter routines.
A personal accident kept us away from getting this done earlier, but we do not want the calendar to flip to 2020 without letting you know about the success of the 2019 Whyte Ridge Mini Soccer season.
2019 Whyte Ridge Mini Soccer saw over 300 players aged 3 to 8 years old playing soccer in Scurfield Park and Don Smith Park in May and June. They were coached by 76 volunteer family members and friends who in turn were led by 4 committed conveners.
We are so thankful for all of the people who gave their time and energy so our children can have the experience of playing soccer once or twice a week.
A special thank you goes to all coaches and parents who jumped in to help from the sidelines. Mini soccer would not exist without your dedication. We smile when thinking about how engaged you are with your players.
Our organizing team of conveners and equipment manager were integral to making this season a success. Janine Carmichael, Courtney Melnuk, Tracy Sterdan and Megan Berry were our super organized, energetic conveners. Paulo Ferreira, our new equipment manager this year, has been a great help with yearly inventories and organizing of equipment and jerseys. It has honestly been such positive experience to work with these five people, and we are thankful for what they have given to our community and children.
We had some fun special events during our season this year. Firstly, our annual Calabria Mini Soccer Pizza Party was enjoyed by all! Calabria Pizza has been donating pizzas to our program for many years and we are grateful to have such kind and generous neighbours. We encourage everyone to go and visit Calabria Pizza on Scurfield; you won’t be disappointed by the amazing food and staff!
The second special event took place in June at IG Field. Two of our U7/8 girls’ coaches, Keith Richardson and Ashley Schmidt, organized a team of girls to attend a Valour FC home game, and the girls played a short game of mini soccer during half time on the field. Ashley wrote to me after the game and said, “We had a phenomenal evening representing Whyte Ridge at the Valour game.” Thank you to Ashley and Keith for organizing this memorable experience!
A big thank you to everyone: players, volunteers, family, friends, and community for a fun 2019 Mini Soccer season!
We will need more people to help as conveners in 2020. If you would like to join our organizing team for the 2020 season, please contact us. Besides positions as conveners, we would like to mentor one or two people to take over as directors of mini soccer. Our child has now moved on to Youth Soccer, so it is time to pass the mini soccer directorship to someone new. Let us know if this is something you would like to learn more about.
Registration for 2020 Mini Soccer will be in March 2020.
Until then, happy winter!
Rachael Fecyk-Lamb and Karthi Pariyasamy
Co-directors Whyte Ridge Mini Soccer
