Sportsfile

By Chad Klassen

KAMLOOPS YOUTH SOCCER

Kamloops youth soccer out $700,000 this year, hoping for some provincial assistance

Aug 7, 2020 | 1:39 PM

KAMLOOPS — City employees are keeping the fields at McArthur Island in prestine shape, but there’s no one really to enjoy it. Seagulls are having the most fun on the pitch this summer.

The Kamloops Youth Soccer Association (KYSA) hasn’t been able to do much amid the pandemic.

“We don’t have games going on. What we have is socially-distanced training, so we’ve got players in groups of 10. We have a coach or two on each portion of the field,” said KYSA executive director Missy Cederholm. “We’re allowed to have a maximum of 50 players on a full-sized field, so we are able to do some training.”

It’s been tough on players and coaches, who want to play for real. KYSA is still waiting on BC Soccer and viaSport to give soccer the green light. The hope is the approval to play modified games comes in the fall. The association already cancelled its spring season, which has created financial shortfalls.

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“Our association is funded mostly on our registration fees that we would collect from our spring and select seasons,” said Cederholm. “With the cancellation of those programs, we’ve lost upwards of $700,000 worth of revenue. That includes our registrations, our sponsorships that go along with those programs, and our Slurpee Cup tournament that takes place every May long weekend.”

The association has been somewhat fortunate that certain families have left credits, giving KYSA some capital to run on. Some sponsors have also been generous during the pandemic.

However, it needs more help. KYSA executive director Missy Cederholm says it’s looking into whether it’s eligible to receive some of the $1.5 million the province is handed out soon.

“We aren’t quite sure yet whether we’re eligible, but based on the fact it is money to go towards local sports organizations we are hopeful that we’ll be able to apply and receive some of those funds. The B.C. government has indicated viaSport will distributed that money. We’re just waiting for more information on the application process and criteria involved with that.”

It likely won’t be a lot of money, but KYSA, like many other sports organizations, can use any lifeline it can get.