Recreational youth soccer gaining popularity

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

On any given weeknight, on athletic fields throughout Greater Sudbury, dozens of kids chase soccer balls while parents sun themselves on lawn chairs and chat with neighbours.

Recreational youth soccer in the city has seen a steady growth in popularity over the past few years. Ten years ago, the Valley East Soccer Association had 1,400 participants. This year, nearly 2,000 kids are playing in the same league.

The Walden Minor Soccer Association has grown from 700 to 800 participants in the last four years.

According to the SportLink Greater Sudbury Sport Council, 8,100 local children participated in recreational soccer in 2007.

"There's a huge amount of kids who play recreational soccer," said Randy Pascal, president of the Valley East Soccer Association.

"If you used hockey as a comparison, they're not even close to soccer for having the numbers participating in recreational leagues."

There are several reasons for the increased popularity of recreational soccer, he said.

In the case of Valley East, more young families have moved to the area, which has led to an increase in recreational soccer enrolment, Pascal said.

Compared to hockey, soccer is also an inexpensive sport, and more families are able to afford it, he said.

   "Most kids play soccer for about $100 a year. Equipment wise, there's very little cost compared to other sports.

It's also something most everybody can do. You just get outside, run around and kick around a ball."

Because of the increasing demand for recreational soccer programs in Valley East, in 2006, the city began building another five fields in addition to the original four at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Complex in Hanmer.

The problems started when these fields came into use this year and the soccer association added more teams.

The city was originally supposed to build more parking spots to accommodate the increased use of the facility, but this never happened.

"The first week of our season it became apparent that this was going to be a huge issue," Pascal said. "Our first games start at 6:15 p.m. and last until 7:30 p.m. Our second set of games start at 7:30 p.m. At 6:15 p.m. our lots are full, but not insane. People are not parking in no parking areas, lawns and handicap spots.

"But when people start arriving at 7:10 p.m. for the second set of games, and the lots are already full, there's nowhere near enough spaces."

City council recently decided to make an unbudgeted expenditure of $112,000 to immediately build another 150 parking spots on city lands adjacent to the recreation complex.

Jennifer MacKinnon, president of the Walden Minor Soccer Association, definitely considers herself a soccer mom.

Her three children, aged six, eight and 11, all play soccer, and most weeknights she finds herself on the Hillcrest soccer fields in Lively.

"I have two sets of balls in my truck right now. I have two nets and a set of pinnies. That's just today," she laughs.

MacKinnon said recreational soccer is enjoying an unprecedented peak of popularity in Walden. There are 50 mixed-gender teams with children ranging in age from three to 18 playing this year.

Because there's been a steady increase in enrolment, there have been some problems with finding coaches and referees, she said. The league cannot grow much more because there just aren't enough athletic fields, said MacKinnon.

Like Pascal, MacKinnon said she believes the low price of the sport is attractive to parents. Her league charges just $75 per child for the season, and that includes a uniform.

She also thinks parents just enjoy socializing in the sun while their kids play soccer. "One of the nice things about Walden is that it's a smaller community, and you pretty much know everybody out there," she said. "Everybody just visits when their kids are playing soccer."

For more information about Greater Sudbury recreational soccer programs, go to www.sportlink.ca .