Prince Albert Youth Soccer – President’s Message

PRESIDENTS REPORT 2010-2011

The Prince Albert Youth Soccer Association (or PAYSA for short) is the organization responsible for the administration of youth soccer for the City of Prince Albert and surrounding rural areas. We are a non-profit corporation and our governing body is the Saskatchewan Soccer Association (SSA) and ultimately the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA). PAYSA is controlled by a board of directors who are elected at our Annual General Meeting.

2010 has been an extremely eventful and exciting year.  In January, we finally moved soccer operations to the new Alfred Jenkins field house – our “home turf”!  The Alfred Jenkins field house was officially opened on June 3 by Premier Brad Wall.  The ceremony went extremely well and was well-attended.

It is important that, as an organization, we maintain a consistent message for all members and that we say what we do and we do what we say. Many problems and conflicts arise through poor understanding and/or access to accurate information and lack of documented rules and procedures that all members must follow.  To this end, we have been working on our guiding documents which are in three separate manuals: first the constitution, second the rules and regulations and third policies and guidelines.  The Constitution and Bylaws document, which governs PAYSA, is now complete and is posted for the public under the Office, Administration and Guiding Documents tab on our website.  It is my hope that in the very near future the other two documents, which are almost complete, will also be posted.

REGISTRATION

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The registration figures are promising.  In the 2010 outdoor season there were 1,303 players enrolled in soccer.  This figure is up considerably from the 1,188 players in 2009, with increases in many age categories.  The number of players in the U6 and U8 age groups is up slightly from the previous year and the general demographic still shows that the numbers of young “grass roots” players are strong, indicating great potential for future growth. Another encouraging trend shows more players in the U14 to U18 age categories showing that our players are still engaged in these typically vulnerable age groups (see Figures below).

The 2010 outdoor season was a challenge from the beginning – rain, rain and more rain.  Fortunately we were able to start the season indoors but many games were hampered by the extreme rain conditions throughout the season!  Players registered this summer in outdoor played on 95 outdoor house league teams ranging from U6 Mini soccer players up to youth U14/U18. In 2010 there were 16 out of town teams registered.  The house league season ended on June 19, 2010.

Indoor registration figures continue to rise.  In 2010, 752 players were registered as compared to 727 in 2009 and 652 0n 2008.  There is an extremely strong U6 and U8 base; U10B numbers have increased significantly, however, there is concern in the U10 girls age group which has remained significantly lower than other age cohorts in past 4 years.  Indoor house league play started in early October, just prior to the Thanksgiving weekend.  We continued with a split schedule in a continued effort to fit more games into the season. The younger age groups (U6 up to U14) commenced play as of October 4th. The older age groups (U16 and U18) start on November 1st after the completion of high school soccer. The indoor season will conclude with the playoffs in March, 2011.

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

Huw Morris has been the Technical Director for PAYSA since 2007.  Since then, he has conducted winter training, coaching clinics and goalkeeping clinics to develop our athletes and has been a great resource person for our association.  Huw initiated a technical development plan which placed a top priority on coach development – “Teaching the teachers”.  With the move to the Alfred Jenkins Field house and a need for full time technical support Huw was unable to commit to undertake this role.  I would like to thank Huw for all his hard work enthusiasm and humour and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.  In June, PAYSA posted a job opportunity for a full time Technical Director.  A search committee was formed to develop, and implement the process of handling and selecting the strongest candidates for interviews.  In September, four strong candidates were interviewed.  PAYSA is now in the closing stage of completing the process of hiring the new Technical Director.  The process was extremely comprehensive, thorough and transparent.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dale McFee who chaired this process from the beginning and the search committee: Randy Emmerson and Mitch Holash, who worked so diligently to review the high quality candidates this competition attracted and select the top candidates for consideration.  The extraordinary efforts of these individuals provided the credibility that this process demands and has resulted in ensuring our organization will benefit from a top-notch Technical Director.   It is our intent that the new TD will be in place by the end of November…stay tuned!!

STAFFING

Since 2007 this organization has been kept solidly on course by Mitzi Pytlak, who has taken on the task of managing our office.  In my time serving on the board I have always been amazed by the commitment and passion that Mitzi shows to soccer.  As years go by I am convinced that Mitzi is the only person who could rise to this kind of challenge and maintain the enthusiasm and good humor that we all take for granted.  Mitzi’s efforts have been very capably supported by Patsy Cameron on a part-time basis.  I truly appreciate the work of these fine people – the quality of an organization is always measured by their people – we can certainly boast having the very best organization in the business.

CELTICS PROGRAM

The Celtic teams are the competitive teams that represent PAYSA and travel to tournaments around the province and occasionally out of province and even in the USA.  These teams are also our representative teams at provincial competitions. The Celtics program was extremely successful this year – a short visit to the photo gallery on PAYSA website tells the story!  I continue to be immensely proud of the efforts of all our athletes.  Prince Albert teams always appear to be “the team to beat”. Their work-ethic and many achievements are a tribute to the dedication and hard work of our Technical personnel, coaches, support staff, and of course the players.  The future is very bright for Prince Albert soccer.

In closing, I feel PAYSA is well positioned for a new era of soccer in Prince Albert.  The number of registrants is healthy; we have wonderful facilities in which to play and learn; and we have the imminent support of a full time Technical Director.  Volunteering is a characteristic for which the people of Saskatchewan are well known, across Canada.  PAYSA is an organization run entirely by volunteers.  The association fully supports our volunteers and indeed youth soccer in this district depends on the continued commitment, contribution and hard work of all these dedicated people.  I am very proud of the people we have working within this organization to make it a better place for the kids – for your kids.  I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of all these volunteers, in particular our Board of Directors, the multitude of coaches, managers, referees and age group coordinators, and all those who donate so much of their precious time serving on our various committees.  Their work and commitment is vital in delivering what I believe is a high quality soccer program for all youth soccer players in our District.