Joey Payeur
Change is in the works for the local adult soccer circuit.
The Borderland Soccer League will hold its annual general meeting this Sunday at 7 p.m. in the first-floor meeting room at La Place Rendez-Vous.
A top priority at the meeting, which is open to the public, will be electing an almost entirely new executive board.
“We had a good season last year and we’re looking forward to planning for the upcoming season,” said Sarah Faragher, who will relinquish the president’s role after two years at the helm.
“But we’re having a lot of turnover on the executive and we need people to step up and help out on the executive,” she stressed.
New people also are being sought to fill the positions of treasurer, registrar, statistician, and women’s league vice-president.
All the positions come with two-year terms, except for the vice-president spot, which has a one-year term.
Faragher already is accepting and encouraging nominations ahead of time, either by messaging her on the league’s Facebook page or contacting her by phone (274-1521).
“I’m trying to get names put forward ahead of time because I don’t want people to feel like if they show up, they’re going to get roped into a position when they just wanted to come and get informed about the league,” she reasoned.
“But anyone who just shows up without prior notice and wants to run for a position is certainly welcome to do so.”
As well, the league is looking to recruit people is in the officiating department, as main referees Ben Hands and Victor Sousa combined to handle a whopping 67 games last season.
“We would love to have anyone step up to do the lines or be a head official,” said Faragher.
“We pay good rates for qualified and non-qualified officials,” she noted. “And if you want to get qualified, we will send you to Thunder Bay and pay for your course.
“It’s a good option for students or anyone who doesn’t play on a particular night.
“We don’t want to rely so heavily on one or two people because it will be hard to run the league if [Hands and Sousa] don’t want to do it anymore,” Faragher warned.
“A lot of games last year, we didn’t have a full complement of officials and then the games are not officiated as good as they could be,” she conceded.
A discussion also will be held during Sunday’s meeting about the possibility of moving completely to an online registration process, which was initiated last year to be held in conjunction with two separate registration nights at the Memorial Sports Centre.
“We didn’t really have that many people come to the registration nights, so it might be a case where we switch to having just one registration night and then maybe eventually do it all online,” Faragher remarked.
“That’s something that will have to be decided at the meeting.
“But it is easier for people to do it online so they don’t have to come all the way in to register in person,” she noted.
