There will be a soccer season in Westlock after some last-minute volunteers stepped up to keep Westlock Soccer going.
Registration will run April 3 at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre for this year’s season, which was in doubt as association president Amie Brett and vice-president Weida Kingma were both looking to step down.
Both have agreed to stay on for another year, Brett said, as a new crop of volunteers has stepped forward and will hopefully be able to take over next season.
“We got some new volunteers coming up and helping out,” she said. “We’re still in need of a lot more, but hopefully this year because people are stepping up this will be a revitalization and a good time to get some new blood in there.”
The relatively late registration day this year comes as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the season, but Brett said she hopes participants won’t be dissuaded.
She said there have, however, been some parents and potential players who have registered with other soccer associations, which could put a dent in registration numbers at the older levels.
“My only concern is because we’re doing a late registration we might not have as many kids as we usually do, and the numbers might not be there to have the league groups,” she said.
Westlock Soccer has historically run an in-house league for younger age groups, while kids playing in the U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-18 age divisions have played against other teams in the Tri County Soccer association.
To play in Tri-County, teams must have at least 12 players of the appropriate age, but things are much more flexible for the in-house league.
Regardless of whether players are in the house league or otherwise, Brett said soccer is a great opportunity for kids to get out and start enjoying the spring weather.
An added benefit is that the equipment costs are relatively low.
“It’s a very simple sport,” she said. “You don’t need much of anything except cleats if you want.”
Westlock Soccer has traditionally had fairly low registration fees as well — as low as $35 for in-house play at the younger age groups, up to $105 for the older age groups.
Those fees are likely to rise this year, though, as the association isn’t sustainable without an increase.
Out of all the places we compared with, we had the lowest,” Brett said. Exactly how much the rates will rise was scheduled to be determined at a Monday-night meeting after press time.
Registration night is scheduled for April 3 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Spirit Centre. For more information about registration or volunteer contact Brett at 780-349-5123.
