OLDS — On Dec. 2, students at Holy Trinity Catholic School showed off soccer uniforms obtained after the Kiwanis Club of Olds (KCO) donated $1,500 to the cause.
KCO president Betty Baril said the club was happy to do so.
“Our main purpose is to improve the lives of children in our community, so for us to be able to donate to the school, this is one of our ways to do that,” she said during an interview.
“We’re hoping that with this program here at Trinity, they’ll be able to improve their soccer program; that’s what they’re trying to do.”
Baril noted the club donated also money toward the École Olds High School Spartans football club uniforms.
In addition, funds raised by the club go toward the breakfast program at Ecole Deer Meadow School.
They also fund a reading program at École Olds Elementary School. Baril said the club might provide money for a soccer team there as well.
Those are just some of the events, programs and activities the club funds. It’s just one of many service clubs that raise money for good causes in town.
Those looking to obtain funds from the Kiwanis Club of Olds are invited to fill out the form on the club’s website.
Kyle Young, a teacher and coach of the group, known as the Tigers, was grateful for the donation.
He said inter-squad soccer was just an option for the students. They didn’t play any games against other schools but learned a lot.
They came out every Tuesday afternoon to learn some soccer skills.
A soccer field was created adjacent to the school with the help of a parent and the town of Olds.
“I was actually able to go out and paint (the lines for) a soccer field, probably for the first time in Holy Trinity history. It took, like, eight hours,” Young said with a laugh.
“We’d go out, we’d run through some drills. I’d teach them a new skill, we’d try to perfect it and then implement it on our new soccer field," Young said.
Olds College men’s and women’s soccer and futsal head coach Allan Siwela came out with some of his players to provide some mentorship and assistance.
“It was good, it was fun,” Siwela said. “It was good to bring in some of our athletes to work with the kids. It’s always nice when you’ve got some people you can look up to as mentors.
“I’ve seen some of them at the games as well so it had a positive impact for them but also for our soccer program.”
Young and Siwela are hoping to build on the Holy Trinity School program.
“What I’m hoping to do is to start making connections with other schools, now that we have some kits -- again, thanks to Kiwanis -- to actually get maybe some exhibition games,” Young said.
“So we’ll roll this from an option into one day maybe having a team so that we can build up soccer in our community.”
Siwela sees the potential for growing the sport.
“I think the connection for me is big and so it’s good to have our connection between the college and some of the local schools in town and nearby,” he said.
“Seeing that we’re so close and we can bring the athletes right on campus, it makes it that much easier and so I think it’s a connection that’s vital, it’s crucial and I think it’s important to have in the community.”
Young said he and the Tigers discussed the World Cup, but haven’t watched any of the games as a group.
“We voted on who we thought was going to win, and we followed everybody else and said ‘Brazil,’ so we’ll see if that comes true. Anybody who chose Argentina, I feel bad for them,” Young said.
