Over the weekend nearly 300 soccer players ranging in age from three to 50 took part in Yorkton United鈥檚 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鈥檚 Ginga Futebol Academy 鈥� a high level soccer academy - in several different age categories. 鈥淚t鈥檚 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鈥檚 fun to watch for everyone,鈥� 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. 鈥淲e鈥檝e 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鈥檚 just getting better and better.
鈥淥ur 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.鈥�
Because of that success, Wyatt says the club has continued to grow each and every year to a point where they鈥檙e one of the larger clubs in the province. 鈥淥ur program has been growing and growing and we鈥檝e got over 360 people in our club right now and a lot of them are young players,鈥� said Wyatt, continuing, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty affordable sport when compared to some other ones, so that helps people decide whether or not to play, and it鈥檚 really for people from all walks of life as long as they want to learn teamwork and camaraderie through sportsmanship and physical fitness.鈥�
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. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already accepting registrations for summer soccer and if people want, they can go to our website at yorktonunitedfc.ca and it鈥檚 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,鈥� mentioned Wyatt. 鈥淲e welcome all new players for an exciting outdoor season.鈥�
