The Westlock Soccer Association has seen nearly 250 kids register for its spring season running from May to the end of June.
The soccer association features teams from several age groups including U5, U7, U9, U13 and U15.
“The growth of the association has improved especially if you look back at their numbers. Even after COVID, it was really low,” said Deonne Dranchuk, the league coordinator of the Tri-County League where teams from Westlock play in.
“It became one of the first sports in the community where people were outside and doing things. Over the last three years, the numbers just keep going up for attendance which is great, but when there's more kids, it means more work for the association.”
The rapid growth of soccer in Westlock has coincided with increased popularity in the sport across the country. The Canadian national soccer team featured at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for the first time in 36 years and Canada is also preparing to co-host the 2026 World Cup with the US and Mexico. Several Canadian soccer players, including Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan, feature for top-level teams in Europe.
The Canadian Premier League also began in 2019 which introduced a fully professional league system with clubs across the country including teams in Calgary and Edmonton (FC Edmonton folded in 2022).
Likewise, the women’s game has seen incredible growth with the Women’s World Cup being hosted in Canada in 2015 with several games at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton and the women’s national team winning gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The U13s and U15s in Westlock play as part of the Tri-County League against teams from Athabasca, Tofield, Bruderheim and Morinville.
The increased registration of players has created the need for more volunteers which has been the biggest challenge for the association recently.
“it's been a super hard year but for a new board, they've done extremely well,” says Dranchuk. “It’s a lot of work with soccer being a sport where the season is so short. I find that there's not as much commitment to volunteering. When you have 250 kids in an association, you need to have coaches that have the certificates, plus be able to organize and put them on teams and then hand out the uniforms. Then we paint lines out on the field which have to be done again because we get rain. Then it washes or you cut the grass, and the lines disappear. Some of those things have been pretty challenging.”
This was the first year Westlock featured a U15 team in the league with U17 and U19 teams potentially being added in the future. The association is also considering plans to merge with teams in Barrhead which only features grassroots non-league teams going up to U11. Several players in older age categories from Barrhead play for Westlock teams as a result.
Another consideration for the soccer association is a potential opening for indoor soccer during the winter months next year.
“The insurance is way different than outdoor soccer, so we have to really see on the indoor stuff and then find a place to do it,” says Dranchuk. “A lot of research will have to be done before we go forward with indoor but most definitely, the outdoor game will always be here.”
U13 and U15 teams from Westlock featured in the Tri-County Cup on June 7 in Morinville with the U13 team securing a fourth-place finish and the U15 team winning the sportsmanship award. Westlock teams will also be playing in the Summer Drizzler in Edmonton from June 20-22.
The season will be wrapping up officially on June 26 with a year-end party.
“The biggest, hardest part was this year. Everything for next year is going to be so easy,” said Dranchuk. “We jotted down everything that we need to do that we've learned from this year to take to next year. Hopefully we can get more board members on to come help and then hopefully volunteers just follow with that.”
The soccer association is introducing a memorial plaque this season in honor of Lexah Makey, a young player who passed away on her way home from soccer. The association are hoping to give the award out to Lexah’s family at the year-end party.
“When parents invest time and energy into traveling and all of those extra assets, they actually tend to value things a little bit more than just sitting in the park and watching the kids kick the ball,” said Keisa Meyer, president of the Westlock Soccer Association. “At the end of the day, it's about building that support and consistency and as it progresses, potentially having more and more teams in the league could help build the association even more.”
