Come Play Soccer.pdf
Article from the Daily Gleaner:
In an effort to boost recreational numbers, the
Fredericton District Soccer Association is giving middle school and high school
players something for free.
The first of four Come Try Soccer for Free
sessions was scheduled for Thursday night at Scotabank North turf field.
Another session will be held there May 7, with the other two - May 2 and May 15
- at Scotiabank South.
The times are 7-8 p.m. for middle school
(2005-07) and 8-9 p.m. for high school (2000-04).
"It's raining but, hey, it's not
snowing," FDSA executive director Dennis van den Heuvel said heading
into Thursday's soggy session.
Van den Heuvel says the first-time
initiative is an attempt to attract more players to the U12, U14 and U18 ranks.
"It's an epidemic across a lot of
sports organizations at U12, especially at the rec level, you start to see
numbers fall off," he said. "We've seen that happen ... from
being able to offer gender-specific leagues at U12, U14 or 15 and U18, then
slowly watching that dwindle into necessitating co-ed leagues just because
of the sheer numbers."
Van den Heuvel said his daughter played
hockey two years ago, but went to a Come Try Ringette for Free session and
switched sports.
"She had a great time and ended up
having an awesome winter playing ringette," he said. "She's probably
going to continue to play ringette now."
He'd like to see a similar response with
the soccer sessions.
"If you haven't played before, that's
OK," van den Heuvel said. "Get out, get some exercise, meet some new
friends, have some fun. A lot of times you'll hear 'I'm 12, I haven't played
since I was six. I can't go back.' Well, yes, you can. It's not that big a
deal.
"See if you like it. There's no
obligation."
Coaches and volunteers will be on site to
"teach you some basic skills, a few rules and maybe get into a little game
play late in the sessions," van den Heuvel said. "We want to create a
non-intimidating, fun environment."
The executive director "would love to
see them come to all four sessions to build on it a little bit, but we realize
some may only attend one or two."
The registration deadline is May 5.
"The numbers aren't too bad,"
van den Heuvel said. "Our competitive numbers continue to stay fairly
level and we're probably par for the course in our rec numbers. Right now, our
overall numbers are lower than last year but we get tons of registrations by
the deadline and a ton more a couple weeks after.
"We've still got some snowbanks, so a
lot of people aren't thinking soccer just yet."
Competitive teams are training
now and will begin playing in mid-May. The recreational season - U4 to U18
- starts the first week of June and runs until the season-ending jamboree
in mid-August.
You have to register online by visiting
the following link, fdsa.powerupsports.com, to set up a user profile and register. The system
will guide you through the steps to create a login and will prompt you to then
complete and pay for a registration.