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New masters soccer circuit in the works through Yellowknife Bay Soccer Club

The Yk Oldtimers Hockey League has had the sports market cornered in town when it comes to giving those aged 35 and up the chance to play in a setting which may not be as fast as they once were.
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Sahara Lafferty tries to make the save during the Canada Summer Games soccer camp at St. JoeSA国际影视传媒檚 Field in 2016. The field could become home to a new masters soccer division within a new league proposed by the Yellowknife Bay Soccer Club. Photo courtesy of Rob Hart

The Yk Oldtimers Hockey League has had the sports market cornered in town when it comes to giving those aged 35 and up the chance to play in a setting which may not be as fast as they once were.

Joe Acorn is looking to do the same thing with soccer and heSA国际影视传媒檚 looking for some feedback on how that would potentially look.

Acorn has a survey up through the NWT Soccer Association on the feasibility of a masters soccer circuit for male players 35 years of age and up along with women 30 and up. It went live on Monday and the response has been decent so far with three dozen responses to date.

Acorn said itSA国际影视传媒檚 been all positive.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 the opportunity to comment once they complete the survey and some of the responses have included things such as theySA国际影视传媒檇 love to see it or itSA国际影视传媒檚 a good way to participate or itSA国际影视传媒檚 just a great idea,SA国际影视传媒 he said. SA国际影视传媒淎 lot of the older players have considered hanging up the cleats the older they get and ISA国际影视传媒檓 hoping to give them a chance to stay in the sport.SA国际影视传媒

If it takes off SA国际影视传媒 Acorn hopes it will begin this summer if everything goes well enough - the circuit would be played at St. JoeSA国际影视传媒檚 Field but not the full length of it and not 11-a-side, as is the case with traditional soccer. This would be a smaller version with the field cut in half and games being played width-wise. The proposed team size would be either six or seven per side with two games going at the same time.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 a smaller field so you would need less players,SA国际影视传媒 said Acorn.

Even with the smaller confines, Acorn said it would still force players to be creative.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 less room to move so it would tighten things up quite a bit,SA国际影视传媒 he said.

The idea is to run the circuit through the Yellowknife Bay Soccer Club, colloquially known as the Sundogs, and the club is looking to purchase equipment that would fit the dimensions of the field.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e bought four 6-ft x 12-ft nets already because the regular soccer nets at the field would just be too big for what weSA国际影视传媒檇 want to do,SA国际影视传媒 he said. SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 also looking to get a dividing board to put in the middle of each field to stop the balls from going onto the other field.SA国际影视传媒

ThereSA国际影视传媒檚 also the idea of backstops to put up at each end of the field to stop the ball from either going into the playground at St. JoeSA国际影视传媒檚 or onto Williams Ave., he added.

The plan is to make this part of a wider-ranging initiative through the Sundogs that would see the creation of a new soccer league in town.

Acorn said he would like to have youth be the focus with the masters being a division within that structure.

SA国际影视传媒淥ur focus has always been to develop players and get them ready to go down south and play in tournaments,SA国际影视传媒 he said. SA国际影视传媒淥bviously, we arenSA国际影视传媒檛 going south anytime soon so weSA国际影视传媒檝e been looking at other ways to help improve the game in the city and we feel this is one way to do it.SA国际影视传媒

And if you think this is going to create a conflict with the Yk Adult Soccer League, Acorn said it wonSA国际影视传媒檛.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檒l schedule all of our games around their schedule,SA国际影视传媒 he said. SA国际影视传媒淭his isnSA国际影视传媒檛 an either-or scenario because we donSA国际影视传媒檛 want to compete with them. Our goal is to have at least one game per week (for the masters) and whatever their schedule looks like, weSA国际影视传媒檒l fit ours around that.SA国际影视传媒



About the Author: James McCarthy

I'm the managing editor with SA国际影视传媒 and have been so since 2022.
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