May 14 - Member Update
Return to Soccer
With a goal of paving the way for competition prior the end of June, at the May 11th Member Discussion SSA announced an Advocacy Campaign. Yesterday this plan was put into action, and we emailed all Member Organizations requesting your participation with a template letter and contact list of government leaders. To those that have emailed letters, thank you! For those that would still like to, we encourage your participation as soon as possible.
BRT Update
We received the following to responses to questions brought forward to the BRT this week:
Q: Can we expect consistent regulations among team sports?
No team sport has been given special consideration for play this spring.
Q: Can we expect any reduced restrictions between now and May 30th? Or between May 30th and the 3-week target at the end of June? Phased in approach prior to step 1- can we get back to the guidelines we had before indoor went to training only?
No update on outdoor team sports at this time.
Q: Expansion of training groups e.g. from 8 to 12
Training groups will not likely be expanded over the short term.
Q: Allowing training games - 4v4 or 6v6?
Scrimmage is not permitted as part of training and conditioning.
Q: Expanding total participants/field for training purposes - E.g. 64 (8 groups of 5 or 5 groups of 12)
Total participants per field is being actively discussed.
As part of increasing public support, Executive Director Doug Pederson was active in the media last week sending the message that our members are ready and we request reduced restrictions and a return to play in Step One of the Re Open Road Map.
With media attention and your support for the advocacy campaign, we hope to hear the Premier announcing reduced restrictions in the near future.
Next Member Discussion
The next Member Discussion is scheduled for Tuesday, June 15th at 8:00 PM (or earlier as required).
Register here.
MAP Grant Update
We are almost through the approval process and are looking forward to emailing out the approval letters next week. Your patience is appreciated!
50/50 Province-wide Fundraiser Launch
We are excited to announce our lottery license for the 50/50 fundraiser has been approved. We now need your help to promote ticket sales and make this fundraiser a huge success!
The province-wide fundraiser will be run through a website provided by Rafflebox and this will be the only place tickets are available for purchase. When individuals are purchasing their tickets from the website they will be given the option to select a member organization “In Support Of” that they would like the proceeds from their ticket purchase to go to. The selected organization will receive the proceeds from those sales (approximately 35% of each sale). Each member organization that has signed up will also be given their own URL that will automatically select their organization in the “In Support Of” dropdown that can be added to the member organization website. The more purchasers each organization is able to drive to their URL, the more proceeds they will receive.
On Tuesday, May 18th ticket sales will open, and we will be putting out a Facebook post promoting the 50/50 and providing the link to the ticket sales webpage. The best thing each member organization can do to support this fundraiser is to share and comment on this post to drive people to purchase tickets. The higher the potential jackpots get the more interest the general public will have in purchasing tickets and the greater success we will all have!
Let's make the first week a success to help build momentum for this ongoing fundraiser!
Exciting News to Come...
Canada Soccer Launches Strategic Plan Engagement Process
For SSA Members, this is an opportunity for Saskatchewan’s voice to be reflected in the national plan.
Canada Soccer has launched a public engagement campaign to assess the priorities of the Canadian soccer public ahead of the development of its 2022-26 Strategic Plan.
The engagement includes a call for user-generated content to support the development of Canada Soccer’s Return-to-Play initiatives. The engagement will run 13-31 May with a target of at least 3,000 responses from across the range of players, coaches, referees, administrators, parents, fans, and supporters young and old.
In addition, Canadians can submit videos answering three key questions being posed to Canada Soccer’s National Teams to develop a Return-to-Play campaign as part of the submission.
Canada at the 2021 Concacaf Futsal Championships
New to Futsal? You can watch
this video with the major rules of the game!
Chantal Boudreau - PRO Roster
After a successful stint of matches during the 2020 MLS 2020, Chantal Boudreau has become a full fledged member of
PRO Roster (PRO - Professional Referee Organization) which manages the referee/assistant referee programs for the US Professional leagues, most notably MLS, USL and NWSL. Chantal made her debut in the 2021 MLS season in the Columbus Crew - DC United game. A sample of Chantal’s Assistant Referee teamwork can be seen
here. A correct Onside decision prior to DC United’s goal can be seen
here. Congratulations Chantal on this great achievement!
Conversation 2021
Everyone has a role to play when it comes to gender equity in sport and the virtual Conversation 2021 conference gives you a platform to share your thoughts on the subject, listen to expert panels and discuss ways to move forward.
Sask Sport is covering registration to Conversation 2021 for the first 20 people who sign up with additional spots available through the Indigenous Coaches and Officials Program for qualified participants.
Sign up here.
Each week visit Everyone’s Game Resource Centre on our weekly communication to find informational and inspirational articles, member interviews, and developmental opportunities.
Monthly Member Interview: Faith
Faith Jasper sits down with Eden Senger to discuss why inclusion and diversity is so vital to the success of soccer. Faith is currently enrolled in Kinesiology at the UofR, she has been part of SSA as a player and a coach. Currently a coach with Queen City United Soccer Club within the grassroots programming as well as the competitive stream. Faith has been a part of Best Buddies, an organization helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities find friendships, as well as being involved with Special Olympics throughout high-school and University.
Past Interviews
FREE online psychological skills training (PST) program for athletes with a disability. These 8 interactive online modules, focused on such skills as goal setting, routines and arousal regulation, are evidence based and designed specifically for para athletes.
More Rewards, along with founding partner Save-On-Foods, is proud to unveil More Rewards Fueling Sport - a program that will provide sponsorship, fundraising, and cost saving opportunities to local elite athletes and youth teams across Western Canada. They have pledged 10 million dollars over the next five years to help support over 500 amateur high-performance athletes, and 150,000 community-level youth athletes from British Columbia to Manitoba.
There are two pathways your athletes can take to be involved:
Elite athletes & rising stars: Your athletes can apply to join our team where they will be sponsorship through free groceries from Save-On-Foods for one full year! There are already some incredible athletes who have joined the team including Brigette Lacquette, Desiree Scott as well as Zak Madell. More Rewards asks that you please invite your athletes to apply to this program, before May 28th, 2021. If they are on the pathway to greatness in any sport, whether it be provincial team, club, varsity, junior or national, More Rewards would love to fuel their journey!
Youth Sport Parents, Coaches & Team Managers: If you are on any team, in any sport, at any level of competition - More Rewards would love to make youth sport more affordable and rewarding! They will provide fundraising and cost savings for your sport family. The program will begin as soon as team sport can safely return to competition. In the meantime, they invite teams to register today so they can be the first to receive more details when they come available.
Applications for sponsorship from athletes in Western Canada are open until May 28, 2021
Techne Launch Week 10 Leaderboard
The winner of the Week #10 Techne Leaderboard draw and a $50 Xtratime Sports Soccer Locker gift card is Rene Z. from ASTRA Soccer Academy.
SSA Calendar of Events & Deadlines
Recordings of past webinars and COVID 19 member calls can be found on our
YouTube Channel.
BE SAFE! BE THE SOLUTION!
As a reminder, please continue to take care of yourself, your families, and others.