Super season

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

Strathmore Soccer Association (SSA) is set to wrap up another successful season of outdoor soccer. 

“This has been an exceptional season for the SSA, with growth in many facets of our organization from coach training to participant numbers,” said Ryan Parkins, technical director of the SSA. 

With mostly nice weather, the teams were able to enjoy their outdoor season. The entry-level (U4-U9) and district league (U10-U11) just finished their outdoor season and the club programs (U11-U19) will continue to play until the end of July. 

“We have seen a steady growth in registration numbers with this outdoor session equaling our highest historical club team enrolments,” said Parkins. “We are also endlessly thankful that this year we had a record number of coaches certified under new NCCP and CSA Coaching guidelines.”

One aspect that many volunteer youth programs face is time. It is hard to find volunteers willing to sacrifice evening and weekends. 

“We would love additional members of the community to join our Board of Directors, volunteer as coaches or sponsor some of our programming initiatives,” he said. 

Parkins said that one of the fundamental values is building a strong, inclusive community spirit. 

“Our coaching teams focus on developing good people and then good players,” he said. “This starts with the exceptional people we have on board dedicating their time and being the role models for positive and contributing community members.”

On July 15, members from the SSA participated in the Club Match Day where they were featured as the local club at the Cavalry FC home game. SSA players participated as ball kids, walking the professional players out to the pitch and playing a half-time mini-game.

New things are in the works for the 2024 outdoor season.

“Looking for a little higher level play? The SSA is hoping to launch our first adult competition team in the Calgary United Soccer Association for the 2024 outdoor season – stay tuned!” Parkins alluded. 

With the outdoor season ending, the indoor soccer season is just around the corner. Registration will be opening soon and more details can be found on their website (strathmoresoccer.ca) or Facebook page.