Despite the chill, children braced for the cold and laced up their cleats on April 29 for their first soccer games of the season.
Some teams had a chance to practice before the game, for others, it was their first time playing together.
Parents watched from the sidelines, from chairs covered by blankets, warming their hands on a cup of coffee, cheering on their children.
For the U10 league — those ten-years-old and under — players found themselves adjusting to a larger sized field.
“They are used to playing 5-aside and now they’re 7-aside and very bunched up,” says coach Lori Meville.
“That’s okay, they’ll get there.”
This is Meville’s third year co-coaching a team. This year, her team is purple and sponsored by the 108 Mile Ranch Lions. Meville says she and her co-coach already have an idea on what to work on in practice in the upcoming weeks.
“We’ll be working on throw-ins and position and learning to call for the ball and spread out,” she says. “They all have basic skills, like dribbling and passing and those things we’ll always work on, but they need to work on being part of a team.”
Still, she says, everyone is excited to get back on the field.
Ty Kreschuk is one of those players excited for the start of the season.
He plays defense and says he likes the larger field.
“It’s got more room to play,” he says.
But it’s not the skills and the competition that is his favourite part about soccer.
“You get lots of time to have fun with your friends and just play around,” he says.
The soccer season will continue until the end of June and then restart for a month again in September.