SUNDRE – Spring might be far from people’s minds as we find ourselves smack in the middle of winter, but the Sundre Soccer Club isn’t wasting any time warming up for the coming season.
In fact, the organization introduced this year for the first time ever an indoor winter program courtesy of an agreement with River Valley School that secured space in the gym.
“We’ve started our winter league,” said Janelle Mikal, who following the club’s annual general meeting on Jan. 15 was re-elected president for a third, one-year term.
“We haven’t had that before,” said Mikal, hailing a partnership with River Valley School that made the program possible.
There are a total of 23 kids who registered for U9 as well as U11 sessions. Although the former is full up, the latter may have an opportunity to accommodate a few more, she said, adding the weekly program that runs after school on Fridays started Jan. 10 and wraps up March 28.
Head coach Tara Homa said the kids have been loving the program.
“The kids are enthusiastic. They’re joyful and we’re learning a ton about how to play the game,” said Homa.
“The partnership with the school has been phenomenal,” she added. “Working together with the school to provide a large and familiar area for the kids to play has been great.”
The first sessions focused on dribbling and passing drills with enough time to spare for a scrimmage.
However, while the new winter program seems to be off to a good start, the annual meeting left a bit to be desired.
“The AGM was less than ideal,” Mikal said, adding two previous board members – the treasurer and equipment coordinator – stepped down without any members volunteering to take on those roles that remain vacant.
“We only had one attendant outside of already committed board of directors present at the meeting,” she said.
Otherwise, she said the meeting’s business included a review of 2024, which saw the club join the Big Country Soccer Association as well as the introduction of a spring indoor training session and a summer academy.
She’s also optimistic about the year ahead bringing on “another fantastic season.”
The club has the upcoming season tentatively planned from late April to late June with registration expected to be underway by mid-February, she said.
Additionally, the Big Country Soccer Association has announced there will be a competitive U9 league this year, she said.
“That’s really exciting for us, because I know we have lots of U9s who are competitive and can’t wait to join competitive soccer,” she said, adding there will still also be an option to play in a house league.
Looking ahead beyond the regular season, she said the club is also investigating the possibility of joining the Central Alberta Soccer Association to get involved in a winter league that would start in September.
A financial review indicated the club remains in good standing, which she partly attributed to the municipality providing an affordable rental rate for the soccer fields.
“We’re very lucky to have the Town of Sundre (offer) a very fair price for the field rentals. That helps our association a lot,” she said.
And although the organization is searching for a treasurer and an equipment coordinator, they’ve at least got quorum. Alex Johnston was elected for her second term as vice-president, while Carolyn Gleeson also returns for her second term as secretary. Tara Jones nominated herself as registration coordinator.
“Soccer is continuing to grow and develop in Sundre as we see an interest from the kids to participate in this sport,” said Mikal.
“However, the continued success of this sport will be based on community volunteers stepping up to help support this program.”
Visit the club’s website at www.sundresoccer.com or email [email protected] for more information.
