The Port Hardy Secondary School soccer pitch was once again put to use by high class Mowi Upper Island Riptide soccer coaches teaching the local youth.
Shel Brodsgaard, Director of Soccer Operations, noted the free clinic on Sunday was actually the fifth one the Riptide have put on in the North Island, “and we had about 170 kids preregistered, which is awesome.”
Brodsgaard added they broke the clinic into two sessions, with the morning practice having about 70 kids from six years old to 10, “and we had about 60 kids from 11 to 16 in the afternoon.”
With the younger group, Brodsgaard noted it was basically about “having a lot of fun — a lot of activities, exercise, a little bit of ball work with dribbling and juggling, just basically some easy techniques and activities to get them started.”
He added with the older group, the training becomes “more advanced — dribbling, juggling, passing, possession and things like that.”
As for what the talent level is like here in the North Island, Brodsgaard stated there’s definitely “some amazing talent coming up — coming back here year after year we’re watching the kids grow and mature physically and mentally, and it’s really nice to see. We just love coming up here, the organization from Port Hardy Youth Soccer Association is fantastic, and it’s super fun for us to reconnect with the kids and have a great day playing some soccer.”
Brodsgaard stressed they wouldn’t be able to hold free clinics like this without the support of Mowi Canada West.
The Riptide is the Upper Vancouver Island ‘North’ regional franchise of the Vancouver Island Premier League (VIPL).
The franchise is comprised of eight teams – a boys and a girls team each in the U14, U15, U16 and U17-18 age divisions.
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