The Thompson Junior Soccer Association has some new names and faces on its roster this year. The association's annual general meeting took place on July 29, where a new board was elected and ideas for the future of the sport within the City of Thompson were discussed.
Corey Murdy will be replacing Earl Kuldys as president starting on Sept. 1 this year, and Paul Bentley will be vice-president. Lucy Mayor has taken on the position of treasurer, with Carey-Anne Lindsay as secretary, Debby Belyea as registrar and James Crouch as director of operations.
Murdy, who has two daughters that are involved with soccer, says he is happy to take on the position of president now that Kuldys has resigned for personal reasons. He also says he's very happy about working with Crouch and the other people that are on the board.
"I think we've got a good team. They're very committed, very loyal, and there's real indications that we're all dedicated to working for the same goal, which is for the kids, and we want to put together I'd say organized structures," Murdy explains. "They did a bang up job last yearbut running on a three to four person board last year, they did have to wear a lot of hatsso we want to relieve that."
Crouch, who will also be coaching the boy's soccer team at R. D. Parker Collegiate this year, agrees that organized structure is something the association definitely needs, especially since last year the association had members who had resigned.
"What's apparent is that the association wants different people in different roles, and the amount of energy and effort that has to go into organizing this to run effectively and smoothly is quite extensive, so we're looking at our roles," he explains. "We're going to be more precise in terms of responsibilities, so we can rely on people to help and make sure that we achieve the responsibilities of the positions."Crouch adds the association is looking at projecting themselves to the community.
Crouch says that soccer is a way to put Thompson on the map and let people know that a lot of talent is harboured in the North and not just in big centres like Winnipeg.
"We've talked about how people perceive Thompson as the end of the road going North, but we've got the ability here. Winnipeg's got a pretty competitive league, and we should be more than capable of sticking together a select team that performs and achieves," he enthuses. "We've all got to start somewhere and who's to say Thompson hasn't got a budding David Beckham?"
Murdy says he believes there are enough children in the City of Thompson that would like to get involved in the sport that the soccer association can grow from around 250 participants, where it's at now, to 400.
"It's a cost effective sport that anyone can get involved in. If you go to hockey you're looking at $600 to $700 equipment, when all you need here is a pair of shoes and a pair of shin guards and you're ready to go. The soccer association provides team shirts, balls, everything elseit keeps kids away from the computer, the video games, the TV, and that's massive," he explains.
Murdy says he is very proud of how well the children have performed and kept up the spirit of fun in their soccer games and how well last season went for the association.
"I believe there has been a level of success on every level. To me, overall, I think the turnouts for each individual team where highthe turnouts where there, we had good refereeing, we had a system in place that was operating somewhat efficiently, and the kids seemed to have a good time. If you keep making it about the kids, and make sure they're having a good time, the turnouts are going to be good. The scores are secondary."
The first board meeting for the Thompson Junior Soccer Association will be held during the first or second week in September. Murdy says he wants to thank the past board members for all their hard work and dedication to the association.
