Mitch Calvert
Coming off a successful inaugural campaign last summer with the under-12 soccer development program here, co-ordinators Sarah Noonan and Rick Chambers are looking to pick up where they left off and raise the bar even higher.
“We are looking to increase player numbers this year [to] 12-15 for both the boys’ and girls’ teams,” Noonan noted.
“Having completed the three coaching levels of the Community Coach Certificate [program] this winter, I look forward to utilizing my new coaching knowledge and implementing a successful second year of this program with help from long-time local youth coach Rick Chambers,” she added.
The group already has begun indoor training sessions Tuesdays from 6:30-8 p.m., and is still open to anyone born in 1998 or later who is registered in Fort Frances Youth Soccer.
The fee is $150.
“April will be used as a month to recruit interested players and to train weekly with the group of girls and boys who are already registered,” Noonan explained.
“All interested players can show up to play on Tuesday nights.
“Training times will remain weekly until youth soccer and the school year is over, [then] will increase to twice a week for June, July, and part of August,” she said.
Noonan has been in talks with both the Kenora and Dryden district teams in hopes of organizing some exhibition games, with the final goal being the U12 district tournament in Dryden on Aug. 14-16.
“We had several players identified at last year’s district tournament, which invited them into the first phase of the Region 7 team with Thunder Bay coach Dave Colistro,” Noonan noted.
“Both Celia Berry and Tyler Ruppenstein made it through all three phases of the Region 7 program and will compete in a U13 exhibition series in Toronto against all other six regions in the province,” she remarked.
The Region 7 team (west of Thunder Bay) will merge with Region 6 (Sudbury) to compete in the province-wide event.
Berry travels to Toronto on the last weekend in April (25-26) with the girls’ squad while Ruppenstein heads there the following weekend (May 2-3).
“It is a considerable accomplishment to be invited into all three phases of the region team training, and to now have the opportunity to compete against the best youth players in Ontario is exactly the type of exposure this program is hoping to introduce to local players,” Noonan enthused.
“Tyler and Celia have created this opportunity for themselves through dedicated soccer training in the winter months, and by proving their skills to coach Colistro.”
Coupled with the Soccer Northwestern Ontario Developmental Youth League (set to launch in 2010), Noonan hopes to create a highly-successful environment for local players to develop for years to come.
The development program will be incorporating under-13 players who graduated last fall into this summer’s practice sessions—despite the fact they won’t be allowed to compete in the district tournament.
“The skill development and game strategy will continue to be geared towards under-12 competitive players,” Noonan noted. “I will modify the degree of complexity of drills and practices to specific player skill and knowledge.
“Having some under-13 players incorporated into practice will also help elevate the whole group’s skill level and intensity of practices,” she reasoned.
Noonan said Marah Trivers will be volunteering as team manager this season to help relay any parental concerns to the coaching staff over the course of the summer.
For more information on the U12 soccer program, contact Noonan at snoonan@mail.rrdsb.com
