MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- It’s the end of an era for high school girls' soccer in Moose Jaw.
At least for one season.
Due to dwindling player counts for schools in the city, a last-second decision was made to cancel the Moose Jaw High Schools Athletic Association girls' league season and instead switch to a development program that will take its place through to the end of the campaign in October.
It’s the direct opposite of the situation in the boys' league, which sees both the defending champion Central Cyclones and the combined Moose Jaw Boys taking the field with more than 30 players against seven teams from throughout the southern part of the province.
Seeing the girls’ loop fall by the wayside for a season was naturally disappointing for league organizer and Central boys manager Ray Rawlyk, but there’s still hope things will be back to normal in a year’s time.
“The good thing is there was still some interest in the girls, but just not enough to form a team,” he said. “So there might be an amalgamation in the future, maybe even the whole city next year, so we’ll see what happens.”
The good news is that JJ Soccer has stepped up to help out, with Jason Jones and crew running a series of skill training sessions and scrimmages at the Vanier mini-field every Tuesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Any player interested in coming out to have fun while learning the game -- and preparing for the likely return to league play next season -- is more than welcome.
“It’s a last-gasp effort and we really appreciate it,” Jones said. “It’s also a good place we can train our refs while giving the girls a chance to play, so that should work out well.”
As for the boys' side of things, well, it’s almost too good.
The Cyclones are currently taking the field with no less than 34 players, more than enough to field two teams, while the Moose Jaw Boys -- a combination of the rest of the schools in the Friendly City -- have around 30 players.
That quandary will make for less in-game playing time for the less-experienced players, while also allowing for full practice scrimmages and improved player development as the season progresses.
“Next year if it holds, we’re probably going to have two teams at each school, junior and senior,” Rawlyk said. “We just have to find coaches, so we’ll see what happens, you never know.”
Given enough time, the teams could have split this season, but the realization that numbers were so high came only a couple of days before the campaign was set to begin.
“If I could do things over again, I would have split it into two, but we just didn’t have enough manpower to run two teams, with coaches and busses and all that kind of stuff,” Rawlyk explained. “The way it all worked out when we knew how all the pieces were going to fall, it was two days before the first game. So it was tough to organize, but we got something together.”
Ideally, having the older and younger teams playing against one another in practice scrimmages will lead to bigger and better things down the road.
“They’ll be able to improve by watching and playing against each other,” Rawlyk said “And the young kids have to get bigger and stronger, they’ll learn from the older players, and hopefully it’ll just build.”
The Cyclones opened the campaign on Wednesday night in Swift Current against the Colts, with goals from Patrick Pryadko and Oscar Jensen pacing Central to a 2-1 win.
“We’re not too bad. I thought initially with so many young players we’d be rebuilding for a few years, but we have some really solid players who have come in,” Rawlyk said adding that the newcomers include players from France, Spain, Ukraine in addition to the corps from African and Middle Eastern nations.
One newcomer, goaltender Tymofiy Goncharov, turned heads with his play and gives the team two skilled netminders alongside veteran Kayden Cletheroe.
“So we have some pieces there,” Rawlyk said. “We have a good core of players, not a lot of superstars, but a solid core that can play well with anybody, in time.”
The boys league will play a full slate of games this Saturday. Both Central and the Moose Jaw Boys are in Yorkton for doubleheaders against Yorkton Regional and Yorkton Sacred Heart, while Notre Dame will be in Weyburn.
Overtime… With so many boys players signing on, the teams are on the lookout for extra pairs of soccer-specific cleats in the size 8- to 13-range. Contact Rawlyk at (306) 630-5525 for more information and to make a donation.
