By Zachary Cormier
The Lacombe Minor Soccer Association’s Indoor Soccer program is in full swing.
“Indoor is sort of the smaller side of soccer in Lacombe. I think we have probably about 80 registered from U6, U8, U10, U12 and U14,” said Marc Roy, one of the directors of the Lacombe Minor Soccer Association (LMSA).
According to Roy, the size of the indoor program has grown a lot since last year.
“It’s actually way up from last year. Last year we basically had two teams and this year we have five teams, so we have a lot more registered,” he said, adding support from the community has played a major role in that growth.
“We want to thank the schools because they help us out and that’s the main thing because we don’t have facilities in the same way some of the other places do,” he said.
When it comes to indoor soccer, Lacombe’s local teams practice in community school gyms before heading to Red Deer for their games.
This year, the LMSA fielded competitive teams at the U10, U12 and U14 levels. They also have U6 and U8 fun leagues.
“The U6s and U8s are just for fun, so they just basically practice in the gym and we’ve arranged the U8s to have some friendly matches with Blackfalds and Ponoka,” said Roy, who also coaches the U12 indoor team.
The other three levels, he added, compete in the Central Alberta Youth Soccer League, which is a collaboration between Red Deer City Soccer and the Central Alberta Soccer League.
“It’s teams from Red Deer and as far as Camrose, Stettler and Innisfail.”
Right now, the U12 team is one of the hottest teams in their division, just two points behind Camrose (Howard) for third place.
“We’ve kind of been on a tear here for wins and we’re doing pretty well,” Roy said.
With the indoor season wrapping up in March, Roy said the organization is beginning to look towards the outdoor soccer season, starting with their Annual General Meeting on Feb. 9th at the Lacombe Memorial Centre.
“Our big season, of course, is the outdoor which runs in May and June. There we have over 400 kids registered,” he said, adding the AGM serves as the LMSA’s main registration night for the outdoor season.
“That’s kind of our registration night for the outdoor season and it’s also the time where we’re looking for people to join the organization.”
Roy said one of the goals of the AGM is to fill vacant positions on the LMSA’s board and to recruit coaches, managers and parent volunteers for the upcoming season.
“Lacombe has a pretty prestigious history in soccer,” he said.
In fact, last season the U18 Boys team brought home provincial gold while the U16 Boys came away with silver.
The indoor soccer season runs through the end of February with playoffs being held in early March. Anyone interested in registering in outdoor soccer for the 2016 season can attend the association’s AGM on Feb. 9th at 6:30 p.m. at the Lacombe Memorial Centre or visit the LMSA’s web site for more information.
zcormier@lacombeexpress.com