Fernie’s youth are invited to kick it with the Vancouver Whitecaps professional soccer team, as they make their way to Fernie this fall for a skills program.
“We’re rapidly expanding in the Kootenay’s and Fernie is one of the places where soccer has been completely taken by storm,” Whitecaps Kootenay Regional Head Coach Brett Adams said. “Soccer’s the fastest growing game in Canada. There’s a demand, there’s a need and what we pride ourselves on is [that] we are the only professional club within the area, so we feel partly responsible to get out there and to help try and grow the game.”
Last year, the Whitecaps joined up with the Fernie Academy, establishing the first school program in the Kootenay’s.
Now, they are moving into the second year of the Fernie Soccer School Academy program.
Adams noted, “We’re really proud of it. People within the community are supporting us and wanting to take it on to the next level.”
The skills program, catered to players ages eight to 16, launches on September 20.
Adams said it’s a great chance for youth to experience training with a professional soccer club and professional coaches.
He added, “Part of it is to try to raise awareness that things in this community are going off, and good things, hence why it’s attracted the only professional soccer club in B.C.”
The program runs for 10 weeks.
Adams admits that the chances of gaining a contract with the Whitecaps are slim, but the association also looks to get players competing, gaining a competitive edge and getting a scholarship at a college or university level.
“We look at the whole package really,” he said of the program.