Prince Rupert’s soccer enthusiasts have organized themselves into a league to play the sport they love.
The seven-a-side coed soccer league, which started at the beginning of July, is in its first season, and allows both men and women to play some high quality games and enjoy good natured competition.
“It’s everyone having fun,” said the leauges primary organizer Kendall Wing. “There have been no complaints, everyon is just showing up and having a good time kicking a ball around.”
While Wing loves to play soccer, he says he did not have a way to play organized games with people in Prince Rupert as there was no casual adult league in the city. Wing said the idea for a league has been around for a least a year, but he did not actually start taking action until spring of 2017. He started a facebook page in March to gauge what the interest would be, and said he was surprised by the overwhelming response he received.
“I just wanted to start something up,” he said. “And I thought I’d get a coupld of teams and we ended up getting over 130 people signed up in a couple of weeks.”
Enough people signed up to form eight teams who play on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Wing says the league accepts all levels of play and has specially designed rules to ensure that both men and women are allowed to participate.
“There must be at least one woman on the pitch at all times,” he said. “If there aren’t, that team must either play a man down or a goal down. They get to decide.”
While there are currently no referees for the league, Wing said the teams have don a good job calling their own fouls and maintaining the spirit of the league overall. He said people enjoy having another way to connect with people in their community.
“I think people like to come out for the social aspect,” he said. “Most of us are shift workers and just have families at home and this is our way of letting loose.”