The Canmore Wolverines girls’ soccer team is on a roll, proving that Canmore’s athletes are a force to be reckoned with.
Last week, the Wolverines secured a massive 8-1 win over the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans.
The undefeated Wolverines put on quite a show, with many of the team’s athletes scoring more than one goal.
Airi Watai scored a hat trick while Autumn Bryant and team captain Mary Huggill scored two goals each. The Wolverines’ last goal and final nail in the coffin for the Spartans was earned by Meg Kobayashi.
“As a team, we work together really well and we try to motivate each other a lot. Whenever somebody does something good, everyone cheers and…I think that drives everyone and makes everyone work really hard,” Huggill told the Rocky Mountain Outlook.
In the three games the Wolverines have played this season, the team has outscored opponents by a whopping 22-1 goal margin.
Huggill scored seven goals, showing everyone why she was named captain. Although the Spartans were crushed, they are the only team to score against the Wolverines this season.
With a 22-1 lead, the Wolverines are playing with their food and enjoying every second of it.
“It’s almost like, when we’re winning by that much, everyone gets to touch the ball and pass it around a lot and just try to keep it, so I think that makes it really fun, especially when someone scores who hasn’t scored before that’s always awesome,” explained Huggill.
The Wolverines’ recipe for success involves applying offensive pressure constantly. Huggill explained that this tactic prevents opponents from recovering or making a comeback.
The Wolverines’ strategy is clearly working. Although some of the team’s players left last year, Wolverines head coach Joal Borggard credits the team’s recent success to new blood.
Overcoming Barriers
The Wolverines may have successfully found new players, but the same can’t be said for every sports team in Alberta.
Alberta is the wealthiest province in Canada, yet our provincial government spends the second least on Sport, Physical Activity, and Recreation (SPAR).
The SPAR program “supports Alberta’s non-profit sport system to deliver affordable access to sport and recreation opportunities.”
Support is provided through grants, award programs, training, research, and other services. Alberta has invested only about $25 million a year for the last 35 years in SPAR.
That number hasn’t budged, even with our province’s population growing almost as fast as inflation burns through our paychecks.
Provincial support for sport per Albertan is now less than 40 percent of what it was in 1993. For many families and their children, cost is the biggest barrier to entry for sports.
No parent wants to deny their children the opportunity to participate in sports, but many are left without a choice as sports-related costs increase like registration, equipment, and travel.
“It takes a chunk out of your paycheck. We feel a punch with the equipment right now. Kids grow like weeds…We haven’t even gotten into fuel charges … how much gas people are spending just trying to get the games in. With three kids, we’re all over the city,” Mohammed Hussain, an Edmonton resident with children in organized sports, told CBC News.
There are many benefits to sports, including mental wellness and physical health. These benefits should be enjoyed by everyone, not just those who can keep up with rising sports costs.
There is hope on the horizon. In June, the provincial government announced that it is providing $8 million in funding to the Every Kid Can Play Program to help make kids’ sports more accessible and affordable.
