Spring is finally arriving, and a young person’s heart turns to thoughts of soccer.
Specifically, how is soccer going to work this year?
Previously, the younger kids practiced on the field just east of the school. But that’s where the new double-wide portables are being installed, and what was once a field is the soon-to-be home for Tumbler Ridge Secondary students.
The slightly older kids played on the other school field, south of the playground, but currently, that’s where the single-wides are currently set up, the temporary home for TRSS students.
And the high school field, where the high school students used to play? Well, that’s a question that Michael Naylor and the Tumbler Ridge Youth Soccer Board are currently struggling with.
“We’ve had a lot of snowfall this year, which certainly makes the season a little complicated,” says the newly elected Naylor, who took on the role of president at the AGM on April 24. We talked on April 25. “The board will be having its first meeting next week and a lot of plans are going to come from there. We tentatively are looking to hold registration at the Community Centre, May 5–6, from 4pm until 8pm, probably at the curling rink.”
However that may change because the board is asking the same question that everyone else has been asking: where will practices be held. “I would like to have that in place prior to actually doing the registration. But that’s being worked on very actively starting about 3pm yesterday.”
Naylor says there are other spaces around town, but finding places that are appropriate is kind of hard. “You would assume that there’d be fields everywhere, but there’s really not, especially for something as large as a soccer pitch.”
Naylor says he’s been out for a drive around town to see what the options are. He says there’s a park area at the end of Bergeron Drive, which is big enough, but would need some work. “There’s Chamberlain Park, which is a fair bit smaller than a full-size pitch, but could possibly take some of the younger kids. There’s the areas around the baseball diamonds, although that’s not ideal because it’s not level and honestly would need a fair bit of work. There’s space out at the RV park, but that’s no longer owned by the district. There’s space by the stables, where the Wolverine Nordic and Mountain Society have their disc golf course.”
He says there’s also space at the fairgrounds. “It’s a very big space, but how practical it is for soccer? I don’t know.”
There’s also a field down at the Flatbed campground, and, while it would be a great place to host a tournament, he says that it’s not a great place for practice. “From a practical standpoint of coaching down there and training? It’s not the best, just because of the issue of getting there. Parents tend to drive their younger kids down, but when the kids start hitting 11, 12, and above, most of the kids are actually just walking, and we live in bear country. It’s not something I can get behind to have all the kids walking down.”
He says the older teams—U13 to U17—have been practicing in the curling rink for a couple of months now. “Massive thanks to the Community Centre,” he says. “I really can’t stress that enough. When I reached out and asked if we could use the school gym, (TRE principal) Mr Shedden turned that round on a dime and we were there within three days. We played there for a week. My expectation was it was going to be sort of several weeks until the ice was coming off in the curling rink, but the wonderful people at the community centre really helped us. It was a week and a half after I asked them if we could use that space and they had the ice off, the place fully cleared and we had all the kids in the curling rink, which is a way bigger space. Honestly, it’s done the kids a lot of good, getting in that time, getting in that running.”
But now that the sun is shining, he’s hoping to get the kids outside. “There are backup plans. The community centre is available. We’ve also had some kind offers from some of the other communities out of Tumbler Ridge to co-host the tournament.”
Of course, says Naylor, right now it’s all up in the air as he’s been working on the problem for 12 hours. “And we still need a place to practice. We will have a U5 team, as well as U7, U9, U11 and all the way up to U17 and maybe U19 as well.”
He says they still have a long way to go. “But we’ve got some great board members this year that I’m absolutely thrilled are part of the team. We’re here because we want to make this happen this year. And that’s the attitude. We’ll make something happen. What it’s going to be? I think that’s still to be determined, but we will make it happen. Gathering coaches has always been a challenge. That said, I cannot imagine something I would rather be doing with my time than introducing the kids of Tumbler Ridge to sport. It’s been instrumental in changing my life and my attitude, and I see in all of the kids I teach.”
Naylor encourages anyone who might be considering coaching soccer to talk to him. “Please reach out to me if you have questions. I promise not to twist your arm too hard. And I can provide some honest feedback about the positives and negatives. So if you’re new to the game but keen to help then we have assistant roles and we will very much be there to provide guidance, teach the rules and everything.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
