Co-ed soccer clinic offers nice introduction to league

In preparation for the upcoming season, the Whitehorse Co-ed Soccer League held its final start of year welcome clinic Wednesday in the Canada Games Centre's fieldhouse.

In preparation for the upcoming season, the Whitehorse Co-ed Soccer League held its final start of year welcome clinic Wednesday in the Canada Games Centre’s fieldhouse.
Wednesday’s event was taught by Yukoner soccer player Simon Pulido and drew an impressive number of around 35 players, which was an increase from the previous clinic held on Sunday.
“We were quite pleased with the turnout at both of them,” said Lenore Morris, one of the organizers of the clinic. “We feel that this is a nice introduction. Furthermore, the league wants to attract a range of players. There’s lots of adults here that haven’t played since high school and we want those people to come out because we think it’s such a great game.
“We don’t want anybody to feel like they are good enough to come and play, so we think that if they come or do something like this for one or two nights it just will make them feel a lot more comfortable and give them this sense of whether they want to do it or not.”
Both clinics were free to participate in and included a lot of attention being placed on ball control, passing and creating space.
The clinics always ended with a scrimmage that was supervised by Pulido, who would stop the action whenever he felt it necessary for instructional purposes.
Pulido, who has been playing soccer for around 35 years, said he was impressed by the play of the participants.
“The soccer clinics went extremely well,” he said. “I believe we had about 35 players tonight and Sunday we had about 25 players and I would say about 17 players were brand new players that I have never seen before. That means that a lot of people are interested in learning, having fun in such a very healthy sport.”
He said the clinic is a very good way to introduce the game.
“In my personal opinion I think there is a lot of interest, enthusiasm into soccer in general, not just co-ed, but it’s also in the other leagues,” Pulido said. “I would say that it’s a good thing happening here in the Yukon.”
The co-ed league will also hold two soccer games that will also take place at the fieldhouse.
Both games are free to participate in, with the first one being held on Sunday from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., while the second game will be on Wednesday from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The first game in league is scheduled for Oct. 19, however registration is still open and can be done at either Sport Yukon or Inter Sport. Registration is $175 for the entire season, which runs until the middle of March. There is also the option of signing up for a half season registration, which costs $100 and features games up until the week before Christmas.
There are no playoffs in the co-ed soccer league, but players are guaranteed two games each week, including one on Sunday and one on either Wednesday or Thursday. Players in the Whitehorse Co-ed Soccer League must be 18 years or older.
The 2007-08 indoor season in the Whitehorse Co-ed Soccer League featured six teams in total. Morris, who is also the treasurer and on the executive, said the league hopes to have 100 players registered this season. She said there are roughly 15 to 18 players on each team.
One of the unique things about the co-ed soccer league is how it strives to make games as even as possible, which Morris said can even include players switching teams if one squad out numbers another by a noticeable amount.
“It means players are playing the same amount of time and we think it’s more fun.”