Thirty youth soccer teams are set to take to the pitch at the Alfred Jenkins Field House. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Growing to beautiful game

P.A. set for 30-team youth tournament

Oct 30, 2019 | 12:20 PM

Prince Albert is set to host 30 youth soccer teams.

The first annual Melba Jenkins Memorial Cup is set to kick off on Nov. 8 and wrap up Nov. 11 at the Alfred Jenkins Fieldhouse. The tournament will see teams competing from a range of age categories. This includes youth under nine, under 11 and under 13. Both boys and girls teams will be taking part.

Prince Albert Youth Soccer Association President Nnamdi Ndubuka said by putting on the tournament they hope to help the game locally.

“The main objective of this tournament really is to promote soccer here in the city and also to improve the level of soccer by having [a] higher level of competition for our clubs,” he said.

The tournament will be bringing in teams from around some surrounding areas, like Saskatoon and Yorkton.

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To help pull the tournament off, the soccer association received support from a number of local businesses. The main sponsor of the event is Canadian Tire owner Malcom Jenkins.

Ndubuka, who has been involved with the soccer community for six years, said in his time he saw a growth in the game, with lots of interest in both indoor and outdoor seasons. Both leagues saw a 10 per cent growth in membership in registration last season.

While this is the first tournament, Ndubuka said the planning committee is looking forward to putting on the event on a regular basis.

“That’s our hope,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn