Rayside-Balfour Minor Soccer Association kicked off another season this past Monday, with 33 teams competing in five separate divisions. With just under 500 children registered, club President Bob Sutherland notes that the numbers have remained essentially level over the past few years. "The U-6 division is down slightly but we were really pleased at the number of participants in U-15" said Sutherland, who explained that he is at a loss to understand the drop at the U-6 level.
The league runs with coed teams through all divisions, with the numbers simply insufficient to run with girls only teams. Like many other associations in the area, the RBMSA continues to try and maintain a league that focuses primarily on fun, with competition kept to reasonable levels. "This is the second year that we have eliminated the qualifying round for the playoffs" noted Sutherland, with the league hosting a year-end playoff weekend.
"We try to run the playoff weekend almost like a soccer festival, and we don't seem to be getting any complaints about it...well, except maybe about the hamburgers from time to time" laughs Sutherland. Moving forward, the Rayside association would like to see a the development of a central soccer site, with multiple fields. At the moment, the club's preference towards the grounds of the Trillium Centre seems to be taking a backseat to the city's preference of Chelmsford District Vocational Composite School.
Sutherland went on to say that this year has been one of the best in terms of finding coaches but the league continues to experience some frustration with the procrastination they encounter with some parents. "We haven't had to turn away many kids but I am sure there are probably a couple more teams we could have accomodated had people registered a little earlier, allowing us to get a better handle on the number of players in each division" said Sutherland.
Be sure to follow SudburySports.com as we post the scores and goal scorers for Rayside-Balfour Minor Soccer Association, along with divisional updates from time to time throughout the summer
