Over the weekend nearly 300 soccer players ranging in age from three to 50 took part in Yorkton United’s end-of-season indoor soccer tournament at the Gallagher Centre Flexihall.
Highlighting the year-end tournament was a series of competitive matches that saw local Yorkton United teams compete against Regina’s Ginga Futebol Academy – a high level soccer academy - in several different age categories. “It’s really good for the kids to get home games against high level competition like that, instead of just playing in the community league because it helps improve all the players and it’s fun to watch for everyone,” offered Yorkton United vice president and U-10 head coach Andy Wyatt, adding that because of playing teams like Ginga Academy, Yorkton United itself has seen an increase in its own skill level. “We’ve got a few of our club players that are being scouted by universities, by academies like the Vancouver Whitecaps Soccer Academy in Saskatoon, and it’s just getting better and better.
“Our kids are routinely being asked to play on different teams because of the high level that they play at and everywhere in Saskatchewan various clubs talk about how strong our club is, how amazing it is that we can put together teams that always compete with the best from Regina and Saskatoon while other places sometimes struggle to do so.”
Because of that success, Wyatt says the club has continued to grow each and every year to a point where they’re one of the larger clubs in the province. “Our program has been growing and growing and we’ve got over 360 people in our club right now and a lot of them are young players,” said Wyatt, continuing, “It’s a pretty affordable sport when compared to some other ones, so that helps people decide whether or not to play, and it’s really for people from all walks of life as long as they want to learn teamwork and camaraderie through sportsmanship and physical fitness.”
Wyatt says that the tournament is that last big event of the 2015/16 indoor season, with most teams wrapping up their schedules this week, although some of the competitive teams will still have a few more games and competitions before turning their attention to the 2016 outdoor season.
As for the upcoming outdoor season, Wyatt said the club is already accepting players for all age groups and categories. “We’re already accepting registrations for summer soccer and if people want, they can go to our website at yorktonunitedfc.ca and it’s pretty simple from there because everything is clear on how to register and it even tells people what our club and program is all about,” mentioned Wyatt. “We welcome all new players for an exciting outdoor season.”
