Bentley Minor Soccer Association had a successful season this year with about 70 children from kindergarten to age 11 registered in their house league play. Evening practices seemed to work out better than after-school practices this year.
At their recent house league windup, 300 hotdogs were served by volunteers, and some of those volunteers went without as they ran out of dogs. Wonderful potluck veggies, salad, fruit, desserts, etc. were added to the donated hotdogs and boxes of cookies, along with juices and water.
Following lunch, the playground of the Bentley elementary school was literally filled with kids in neon green, orange, and blue T-shirts playing soccer against moms and dads, and even a few water guns were brought out. It was one of the few really nice days this season, executive members said.
Whole families came out with what is hoped will be future players. Some guests and supporters had also been invited.
Bentley had two U-6 teams with a total of 29 children. The coaches were Ryan Walker and Grant Smith, and Karley Kinsella, Juanita Bender, and Leanne Burton.
The U-8 coaches were Sharon Tomlin and Rachel Langmuir and U-10 coaches were Josh Johnson and Victoria Pacholko.
On the volunteer soccer board were: president Tammy Izquierdo, registrar Marcine Woyke, secretary/treasurer Juanita Bender, CASA rep Debbie Gerrits, referee co-ordinator Marsha Lush, and louse league co-ordinator Alexis Screpnek.
They hope to arrange a fun tournament for the house league players next year and want to see the interest in soccer continue to grow.
The windup did not include the U-12 or U-14 teams that play more competitively. Bentley U-12, with coaches Rob Swartz and Shana Miller, finished top in their CASA pool. The U-14 team, with coaches Scott Ruttan and Kelsey Ruttan, placed third in their pool.