May 27th, 2021 Update
Good Afternoon Parents,
As you probably know, the Alberta Government updated that team sports, including games, may resume as early as June 10th. The SPDSA staff could not be more excited for our members to get back on the field and play games.
Although we were hoping for an earlier start and were initially looking at a May 31st start date, we will continue with Plan B and have a split season that will commence as follows:
U4 season will start on Saturday, June 12th *.
U5 to U19 will begin on the week of June 14th *.
*Based on AHS predicted open date of June 10.
The first part of the season will end on the weekend of July 17/18th. We will resume games the week of August 30th and go until the last week of September. There will be no games from June 30th to July 4th nor on the September long weekend. Games for September may be scheduled on weekends, in addition to a weekly game, as we won't have enough daylight to have back-to-back games during the week. However, we will be doing all we can to secure additional outdoor facility time.
In addition to the split season, we will be offering weekly Academy Programming that will run in July and August. The very popular Strive For Excellence Camp will be held the week of July 19th, 2021, and during the week of August 9th to 13th, 2021, the SPDSA will be hosting the inaugural “Summer Kicks Soccer Camp” - a day-long camp designed for players to have fun in the sun. Of course, dates will dependant on the COVID-19 situation and restrictions at that time. The Friday Night Shots n Stops run by our Goalkeeping Director will be starting up again. The technical staff are excited to start interacting with players once again. Information for these additional programs are currently being finalized, and we will post information and registration details soon.
We understand that the outdoor program may not work for some of our members, and you may not be able to commit to the season. Due to a short turnaround time and to finalize schedules, we need members that cannot commit to the outdoor season to submit a refund request by Monday, May 31 at 5:00 pm. New registrations or players that want to re-register for the outdoor season will have the same deadline of May 31st at 5:00 pm. You can access the refund request form at this link. Once we have the final number of players, we can modify teams as required and then finalize schedules. The schedules will be complete by June 9.
We are still short on coaches. If you can coach, please contact Dhee Govender via email at d.govender@spdsa.net. We cannot run our programs without the support of volunteer coaches. All coaches will be required to complete a Criminal Record Check. Coaches in U9 and older will require an SPDSA Team Officials card. Please contact our office at office@spdsa.net for information to obtain a card.
We will be making a couple of changes to the requirement of players' cards. We had initially said that we would require player cards for U13 and older, but due to the short time frame to get the season up and running, we have decided that player cards will not be required.
April 29th, 2021 Update
We are looking to push the start date from May 10th to May 31st. We would run the season for June, take a break for July and August and then resume the second half of the outdoor season on August 30th, and it would go until October 3rd. Having a split season would allow families to enjoy the summer still and go on vacation without conflicting with the soccer season. If by any chance we can start sooner than May 31st, we would have everything organized for a quick start to the season. We understand that our members want games, and we feel that having a split season will help accomplish this.
In addition to the split season, we would offer a modified training program for May, July and August, for those interested. These programs would be set up as an academy-style format that a technical team member will lead. Once we have the program outlines complete and packages set up, we will communicate further on the costs, start dates, and sessions. The May academy will start on the week of May 10th, so there will be a short window for registration. The academy will be available to players in the U9 to U19 age groups.
Over the past few weeks, the staff have been busy forming community teams. Due to player numbers, we have had to modify and combine age groups to have viable leagues to keep teams local and play in Sherwood Park. When we combined age groups, it also impacted playing days. The age groups are as follows:
U4 to U11 - No change in playing days or age groups.
U13 and U15 Boys - Combined age group and playing day will be Tuesday/Thursday.
U13 and U15 Girls - Combined age group with the U13 girls and 1st-year U15 girls (2007 birth year) and playing days will be Tuesday/Thursday.
U15, U17 and U19 Girls - Combined age group for the 2nd year U15 girls (2006 birth year) will be combined with the U17 and U19 girls, and game days will be on Monday/Wednesday.
U17 and U19 Boys - Combined age group and gameplay in the EMSA league with game days Tuesday/Sunday.
We have worked hard to create a viable solution, though we realize it may not work for everyone. If you would prefer to withdraw from this Plan B Outdoor season, you can submit your request for a refund. We understand that we are living in extraordinary circumstances and will not be charging the standard $50.00 administrative fee; we will be withholding a nominal fee of $10.00 to offset the banking and transaction fees that have been incurred so far. We genuinely appreciate your support, and we are working as hard as possible to provide programing in these unpredictable circumstances.
We have also decided not to make player cards mandatory for the U9 to U11 age groups for the outdoor season. U13 to U19 will still require cards. Please ensure that your child has a card if they fall within the U13 to U19 age group. If they require a card, please email our office at office@spdsa.net.
Many of our groups are still in need of coaches. If you can coach this season, please reply to this email, or email our Community Director; Dhee Govender, at d.govender@spdsa.net
Thank you again for your continued support at this time. We are looking forward to getting back on the field soon.
Thank you
Debbie Ballam
General Manager