The Strathmore Soccer Association is proud to announce the launch of their first men's team to participate in the Calgary United Soccer Association 2024 summer season.

Ryan Parkin, Technical Director of the Strathmore Soccer Association, discusses how one of the goals of the club has been to create pathways for all players.

Parkin has been playing soccer internationally for over 30 years.

He moved to Strathmore and became involved 10 years ago with Strathmore Soccer, started coaching courses, fell in love with it, and moved from coaching director to technical director.

A few years ago, the Strathmore Minor Soccer Federation transitioned into the Strathmore Soccer Association, and since then, the group has been focused on delivering a multitude of different programs to encompass the whole community.

The men's league is significant because it is the first ever adult team in the Strathmore Soccer Association that isn’t a recreational co-ed league.

“The purpose of this men's league is to give youth players somewhere to go if they don't end up proceeding in soccer to a university program,” Parkin said.

The Strathmore men’s league will be playing against a lot of established clubs in Calgary.

It is weather-dependent, but the season will start either at the end of April or early May.

Practices will be once a week, and they will play 14–18 games.

“One of the benefits of joining our adult team is that it gives you free access to our drop-in program, so they’ll have their team practice weekly, and they’ll also be allowed to participate in our recreational co-ed program for free."

Strathmore Soccer has seen a ton of growth within the soccer community in the past few years in both youth and adult programs.

Parkin says that the Strathmore Soccer Association also wants to launch a women's league and, hopefully, this summer, an adaptive needs program, which they are inviting people to stay tuned for.

Strathmore Soccer is on an endeavor to be as inclusive as possible for all community members.

"Currently, we are in the process of training our coaches and developing an adaptive needs program for those with additional needs so they can join a play-at-your-own pace style program."

The adaptive needs program is something that Strathmore Soccer is collaborating on with Soccability, which offers a coaching program for athletes with additional development or mobility needs.

“We are trying to establish a lifelong pathway for all members of our community, to allow them to play some games at home, which is nice because most people that play soccer in our community have to travel to the city constantly."

The team is looking for more participants to fill the men's roster, and anyone who is interested can head to strathmoresoccer.ca for more information.

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