NWT Soccer will be presenting outdoor summer camps in Hay River for the first time in August.
“We haven’t run our summer camp in Hay River, yet,” said Lyric Sandhals, the executive director of NWT Soccer. “Last summer, we did two weeks in Fort Smith. It was successful and we’re just expanding it, and we hope to continue to expand to other communities in future years.”
Last year’s camp in Fort Smith was the first time that NWT Soccer had held a summer day camp outside of Yellowknife.
“When we did announce that we were testing a camp out in Fort Smith last summer, there was quite a bit of interest in Hay River,” said Sandhals. “We had some parents ask us about hosting in Hay River, and so we just want to follow through with those requests and try to get something on the ground for them this summer.”
The upcoming camps in Hay River will be for children under nine years of age (those born in 2012 to 2014) and under 12 years of age (those born in 2009 to 2011).
“We’ll be in Hay River for three weeks Aug. 3 to 6, Aug. 9 to 13 and Aug. 16 to 20, and each week we have allotted 10 spots for U9 and 10 spots for U12,” said Sandhals. “So those will be kind of two separate groups each week that the coaches will be working with.”
Molly Gillard, the technical co-ordinator for NWT Soccer, said there is more interest in the game in the U9 and U12 age groups.
“And generally those kids have the most fun playing soccer,” she said. “They’re really easy to work with. There’s a large demand from the parents of those children in those age groups for these soccer camps. So that’s usually why we have the U9s and U12s.”
Gillard said the camps will be a combination of learning soccer skills and having fun.
“It’s not just based on skill level,” she said. “But we do try to get the basics in for developing the soccer skills and initial interest in the sport so they possibly move on or look into other leagues and tournaments NWT Soccer offers, as well.”
Registration for the camps in Hay River – along with others this summer in Yellowknife and Fort Smith – opened on May 10.
“The Yellowknife camps, they’re almost full, but we still have a few spots available in the Fort Smith and Hay River camps,” said Gillard, noting parents can register their children on the website nwtsoccer.ca.
Sandhals encouraged parents to sign up their children for the camps.
“I think they’ll have a lot of fun,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to coming to Hay River to put on the camps.”
A child can be registered for all three camps, or just for one or two of the weeks.
Information on registration fees is available on the NWT Soccer website.
Sandhals also noted that NWT Soccer is looking to hire local coaches – typically youth or young adults – in both Fort Smith and Hay River to help with the camps, and there are one to two positions available in Hay River.
She is hoping that the camps, which are being sponsored by Northwestel, will help grow the popularity of soccer in Hay River.
“We’re hoping, alongside Northwestel and their contribution, that we can continue to offer these camps in as many communities as we can each summer,” she said. “Hopefully, we can move up to the Sahtu and the Beaufort Delta and other regions or communities that are interested.”