Registration for this year's outdoor soccer season in Lac La Biche County officially rolled to a close last week, and for the Lac La Biche Football Club (LLBFC) it's going to be nice to get back on the ball after a tough couple of years due to the pandemic, said club President Glenda Bouvier.
“Registration has improved since the last couple of seasons—obviously due to the pandemic. It’s great to see all those numbers increasing so that we can get kids back out playing sports and staying active in the community,” she told Lakeland This Week.
The season is expected to kick-off in the next week, taking teams from the U5 level up to the U19 players through almost two full months of outdoor league play.
Lakeland team-up
Despite the uptick in interest, a few divisions in the local league still need more players and as a result will be merged with other teams, she said. A shortage of male and female players for the U13-U19 divisions has created a unique partnering opportunity in the Lakeland. As player shortages in the older divisions is also happening in neighbouring communities, Bouvier said communities will ‘team up’ to field regional squads.
“For example, our U15 girls are going to join Bonnyville’s U15 girls and we’ll make a team from there that will compete within the Lakeland and tournaments across the province this season,” she says which was also a similar model utilized during the indoor soccer season last fall to ensure a full roster for the northeast division that ended up being a successful effort.
“We did collaborate with the rest of the Lakeland District Soccer before…We had five teams go from the Lakeland to provincials for the indoor season and three of the five teams medaled. It was nice to see that collaboration from the area,” said Bouvier.
New interest
With COVID having impacted registration and gameplay significantly for the last two seasons, this summer a full group of youth are new and or returning in the U5-U11 divisions especially, which Bouvier says is a good sign for the local sport and the club's future.
“I think parents and kids are ready to get back out there and have some fun. We’ve worked hard to try and keep our fees low and provide more opportunities for more families to participate.”
Sport’s field brings opportunities
This year’s outdoor season will also see club teams able to practice and play home games on the multi-million outdoor sports field at the Bold Center. The field which was actively utilized by the Portage College’s Voyageurs soccer teams last season, will be the first full season for the local junior soccer teams to play on the artificial turf and the adjacent grass soccer fields.
“We’re excited and looking forward to being able to do all of our sessions and games out at the Bold Center now on the new fields. We were looking forward to using it last year but with the pandemic, we weren’t able to offer programming so we're really looking forward to it this year,” Bouvier said.
Home tourney
In mid-May, the club is planning to host a tournament for the U13-U17 divisions in partnership with Alberta Surf Soccer Club based in Grand Prairie. The tournament and others like it that will likely follow will be a great way to showcase the local fields and to boost the local awareness of the club.
“We’re very fortunate to have access to that type of facility in our small community…I think it’s going to provide opportunities for us to host some tournaments,” said Bouvier.
Season play
The season's competitive play is expected to kick off for the U13-19 team's early May after schedules are finalized. With the young players eager to get back to the field, Bouvier says ultimately the clubs are thrilled to play, build their skills, and work towards earning a spot in the championships followed by provincials at the end of the season.
“The Lakeland Cup runs during the last two weekends of June and that’s the grand finale of the season locally,” she says with the top teams in the northeastern area going to provincial championships.
Bouvier said the club’s executive members, directors, parents, volunteers and community supporters have made it possible to kickstart the club back from the COVID slowdown. She’s looking forward to a great outdoor season.
“We’re excited and really thankful for the volunteers,” who played a large role to make the season happen.
For information on games and the Lac La Biche Football club and joint Lakeland teams, click on the links in the digital version of this article at www.lakelandtoday.ca
