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Message to Our Soccer Community
2024-10-09It is with great excitement that we get ready to start another indoor soccer season. Thanks to you we have over 440 players registered in West Zone and playing on our 37 teams. Across the City we will have 48 teams playing in the Inter-zone league of the 12U, 15U ...
It is with great excitement that we get ready to start another indoor soccer season. Thanks to you we have over 440 players registered in West Zone and playing on our 37 teams. Across the City we will have 48 teams playing in the Inter-zone league of the 12U, 15U and 18U age groups. The growth of interest in indoor soccer has been outstanding. Thank you parents and players for coming forward to play this great game. Thanks to all the coaches who have stepped up to become involved in the lives of these young players. Thanks to all the game officials who have accepted the challenge of referring all the games and providing guidance to the players. Thanks to all the Board Directors and volunteers who are working hard to deliver a successful season. Together it will be a great year!!
Our Board of Directors have tried to keep the sport accessible, affordable and equitable. We believe in providing you the best quality indoor soccer experience we can deliver. Planning starts many months in advance as we book our facilities, plan for a budget and registrations, order equipment and jerseys, and work to maintain relationships with our partners. We are a very small board and a lot goes into our planning in order to make the season a success.
In August we received our permits for the use of the university gyms and the public and Catholic schools for the season. To our shock we became aware that the School boards have introduced new fees for “Supervision/Cleaning” for weekend users of facilities such as ourselves. These fees are outrageously expensive - $3600 per school for the season ($75 per hour for 3 hour minimum per weekend).
We had no advance notice of these fees and cannot absorb these costs ($11400) into our budget. Nor do we feel it is possible to go back to you as parents of 3 to 10 year old players and ask you to pay another $40 to each child’s registration.
After analyzing the impact of this fee increase we reluctantly came to the conclusion that we have no alternative but to reduce the facilities we would normally use to keep costs down. In a normal year we would use three public schools for the season. Now we will have to run all of our games out of one school as much as possible. Even with this drastic step we will still have to absorb $4000 in unexpected costs.
This season we will have all teams in the 3&4 through 10U age groups playing at Centennial School with games on Saturday and Sundays. Game timings will be during the 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM time slots. We will use George Lee School for the Oct 26 (Picture Day) and George Lee and Riffel High School for the end of the year Tournament but otherwise games will be played at Centennial.
We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience that this change may have on your individual family plans. Please be assured that this was a step that was not taken lightly as it represents a fundamental change to our business model. However we had no other alternative. We have made our concerns known to the City of Regina and the School Boards but a change to the new fee structure is not going to happen.
You as parents do have the opportunity to make your concerns known about this policy. Many of you may have candidates seeking election in November to the school boards and to City Council come to your door. You may wish to reach out to candidates and question why the schools are acting without any consultation or care for the affordability of children’s recreational activities. Possibly together we can make a difference.
We have a small Board of Directors and are always recruiting for willing folks to assist us on committees and on the Board. Your support is essential to run a season and plan for the future. Without you there will be no soccer in the future. If you are interested please contact the Board and we will find a meaningful task that fits your interest and availability.
Your Board of Directors wishes each of our indoor soccer participants a wonderful season. Have fun, practice good sporting behaviors, learn new skills, and meet new friends. Have a great year!
Regina West Zone Soccer Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors have tried to keep the sport accessible, affordable and equitable. We believe in providing you the best quality indoor soccer experience we can deliver. Planning starts many months in advance as we book our facilities, plan for a budget and registrations, order equipment and jerseys, and work to maintain relationships with our partners. We are a very small board and a lot goes into our planning in order to make the season a success.
In August we received our permits for the use of the university gyms and the public and Catholic schools for the season. To our shock we became aware that the School boards have introduced new fees for “Supervision/Cleaning” for weekend users of facilities such as ourselves. These fees are outrageously expensive - $3600 per school for the season ($75 per hour for 3 hour minimum per weekend).
We had no advance notice of these fees and cannot absorb these costs ($11400) into our budget. Nor do we feel it is possible to go back to you as parents of 3 to 10 year old players and ask you to pay another $40 to each child’s registration.
After analyzing the impact of this fee increase we reluctantly came to the conclusion that we have no alternative but to reduce the facilities we would normally use to keep costs down. In a normal year we would use three public schools for the season. Now we will have to run all of our games out of one school as much as possible. Even with this drastic step we will still have to absorb $4000 in unexpected costs.
This season we will have all teams in the 3&4 through 10U age groups playing at Centennial School with games on Saturday and Sundays. Game timings will be during the 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM time slots. We will use George Lee School for the Oct 26 (Picture Day) and George Lee and Riffel High School for the end of the year Tournament but otherwise games will be played at Centennial.
We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience that this change may have on your individual family plans. Please be assured that this was a step that was not taken lightly as it represents a fundamental change to our business model. However we had no other alternative. We have made our concerns known to the City of Regina and the School Boards but a change to the new fee structure is not going to happen.
You as parents do have the opportunity to make your concerns known about this policy. Many of you may have candidates seeking election in November to the school boards and to City Council come to your door. You may wish to reach out to candidates and question why the schools are acting without any consultation or care for the affordability of children’s recreational activities. Possibly together we can make a difference.
We have a small Board of Directors and are always recruiting for willing folks to assist us on committees and on the Board. Your support is essential to run a season and plan for the future. Without you there will be no soccer in the future. If you are interested please contact the Board and we will find a meaningful task that fits your interest and availability.
Your Board of Directors wishes each of our indoor soccer participants a wonderful season. Have fun, practice good sporting behaviors, learn new skills, and meet new friends. Have a great year!
Regina West Zone Soccer Board of Directors