Around 100 more players will be hitting the pitch this year for Okotoks Minor Soccer, but tweens are still needed to fill some spots.
Minor sports are busy accepting players for the spring and summer season. There are still spots for players in rugby, baseball and soccer.
Even though the Okotoks Minor Soccer Association (OMSA) is up 101 registered players from last year, more boys for the age groups 10 and 14 competitive level are needed.
“Our numbers are growing significantly, but we still need our numbers to reach the roster minimum,” said Jean Cote, the director of programs for OMSA.
The league has a minimum number of players that must be registered to each team, 11 players for U-10 and U12 teams and 14 players for U-14 and older teams.
Cote wants to ensure there are enough players to provide substitutions during a soccer game.
Registration for OMSA opened on January 23, and it closes on April 22. If children were to enroll after the cut-off date, there will be a $50 late fee applied, but they will still be listed onto a team.
When it comes to fields the OMSA has lost Riverside Park due to resurfacing. However, three new fields will be opening up. Two will open in the community of Drake Landing and one at Westmount School.
The new Foothills Regional Indoor Field House is tentatively scheduled to open Fall 2013, which will help keep Okotoks players in the area instead of being programmed to play on Calgary fields.
“Right now we transfer more than 180 players to Calgary,” Cote said. “Once the field house opens, there will be four indoor playing surfaces and four outdoor playing surfaces in the MD of Foothills.”
The Foothills Lions Rugby Club (FLRC) is also in need of younger athletes.
The FLRC held its registration event on March 3, and so far they’ve reached their numbers in every age group except the boys U-13 and the new mini’s program introduced this year for boys and girls under the age of 10.
Youths can register from the surrounding foothills area and also in communities located in south Calgary.
“We’ve had roughly 25 senior men register and in our youth groups, approximately 75 kids have registered,” Hudon said. “We have a pretty strong rugby community.”
Parents can register their children online at www.foothillslionsrugbyclub.com by the deadline April 13. However, Hudon said the FLRC would continue to accept registrations after this cutoff date.
The Okotoks Minor Baseball Association (OMBA), on the other hand is finding it harder to keep their older crowd.
“We’re right on par with our past years,” said administrator assistant at OMBA Lesley Dyck said of its registration numbers. “So far we have 405 players for Okotoks and from Black Diamond and Turner Valley we have another 30.”
Once children reach the age of 10, they can register for the competitive league, Outlaws, which has more teams this year than it ever has before — so players in that age group are needed.
The Okotoks Dawgs, have been a major reason why children decide to start playing baseball at an early age.
“At a younger ages especially, the Dawgs sort of inspire or mentor kids,” Dyck said. Staff members and coaches from the Dawgs were part of a baseball camp for 40 children and most of the parents reported back that after attending, their kid wanted to begin playing baseball.
“You really see at young ages the Dawgs are having an influence,” said Dyck.
Another issue the OMBA faces is yet another rainy season. The last two years have caused problems from the beginning of May until the middle of June due to unpredictable weather, and this year won’t be any different.
“Ball has to be played outside,” Dyck said. “We have rainouts schedules incase of bad weather, but that’s really all we can do.”
