The lines were painted and the nets installed under blue skies this weekend, in preparation for the kickoff of Bulkley Valley Soccer Society’s season.
The BV Soccer Society operates soccer programs in Houston, Telkwa, Smithers, and Hazleton with over 800 kids participating each year.
This year, a new adult men’s league has been added to the roster. Registration for the men’s league is still open until May 12th. Board member and coach with the society Tanya Pottinger says it’s an exciting new addition.
“There’s a big demand for more adult sport opportunities in the area. We’ve got close to 90 men registered this year.”
Smithers does also have an adult women’s league, not run through the society.
“It’s run individually. But registration for that is open until May 23rd. And I play in the women’s league as well, and they work collaboratively with our club to make sure we don’t overlap field space.
Now, a project is in the works that would keep players on the fields right through the winter.
“Our club is involved in starting a committee to get an indoor facility built in Smithers. I’m actually one of the people that is participating on that committee, and they’re really excited to try and get that off the ground. We’ve got some plans in place and are hoping to find some space, and hoping that the town will be collaborative when we approach them to work on this project.
We’re really excited. We feel that Smithers is really lacking in that area. We’re hearing about a lot of surrounding communities that are getting funding and support to build indoor spaces like Kitimat, I believe in Terrace, and we feel that’s a huge gap that Smithers has for a lot of organized sports. Just because the season’s so short, and our athletes that want to take things like soccer and softball seriously - there’s a big portion of the year where they can’t play. So, we really need something like that, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
The proposed facility would serve more than soccer;
“We’re hoping to approach it more of a sportsplex aspect, so multi-use. So we’re hoping to incorporate things like a track, pickleball courts, you know. So other sports user groups can use it as well. And other members of the community that are underrepresented, like seniors. There’s no room for them to walk and exercise in the winter. And we’re hoping to make it what our community needs, not specifically just soccer.”