Minor Soccer Ends, What’s Next? Interview w/Community Programmer Shawna Patterson

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Minor Soccer Ends, What’s Next? Interview w/Community Programmer Shawna Patterson

Written by admin on 22 June 2011

Lise Foucault (center) and her husband Sid Clark's Team Yellow (4-6yrs) after their last game Mon.June 22, 2011. Photo OntarioNewsNorth.com

Action was intense at the final game of the year for the youngest of Manitouwadge's Minor Soccer stars. Photo OntarioNewsNorth.com 2011

MANITOUWADGE, ON – This week (June 20^th) Minor Soccer wraps up for elementary school age children who have participated for the past, often rainy, 8 weeks. It’s been a great season for the kids in spite the incessant rain and sometimes cool weather, their fearless coaches choosing to often play through the less than ideal weather or working diligently to re-schedule and even offer many ‘make-up’ games for their teams to attend! This of course over and above what could possibly asked of the volunteers!

Community Programmer Shawna Patterson wanted to recognize the volunteer coaches, they were

Primary Team USA – Shelley Hogan & Ghislaine Gervais
Primary Mexico – Shawna Patterson
Primary Canada – Cecil Clark, Lise-Foucault-Clark and Jesse Proulx
Junior Japan – Sergeant John Hatch and Melanie LeBoeuf
Junior China – Becky Gorges and Marilyn Tremblett
Intermediate Brazil – Cecil Clark and Lise-Foucault-Clark
Intermediate Peru – Kim Chisholm
Intermediate Argentina – John and Lori Oliveira
Senior Belgium – Connie Hedderson and Michella Campbell
Senior Spain – John and Lori Oliveira
Senior Germany – Bill Aguiar, Andrew and Catherine Keough

“A BIG Thank you to all the volunteer coaches, without people like you involved in children’s programming, there would be no children’s programming. Volunteers make all the difference and make it happen!” emphasized Shawna Patterson, Community Programmer for the Township of Manitouwadge, she added “As well a thank you to the referees Devan Pelletier, Emilio Knee and Kaitlyn Newton for your hard work and dedication to making the games fair and fun. ”

In recent years, as the population declined, offering both the Minor Soccer and Minor Baseball (& T-Ball) programs simultaneously, as had once been done in Manitouwadge, has not been feasible. Though many years, registration for Minor Baseball was opened, numbers of either participants, volunteers, or both, were insufficient to go ahead with the program. For 2011, Township of Manitouwadge Community Programmer Shawna Patterson is trying something completely new… As you will hear in the inerview below, Pattterson has saved the Minor Baseball Program for after the kids are out of school hoping this will once again attract the numbers of participants and volunteers necessary for a great league in Manitouwadge while also offering yet another very affordable activity option for youth in Manitouwadge to keep them busy once school has ended ($40/child, $70/max per family).