{"id":6622,"date":"2013-03-27T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2013-03-27T16:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=6622"},"modified":"2013-03-28T09:28:38","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T16:28:38","slug":"new-soccer-league-provides-casual-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2013\/03\/27\/new-soccer-league-provides-casual-option\/","title":{"rendered":"New soccer league provides casual option"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new soccer league promising a more casual playing atmosphere is readying its launch in Victoria, and the local footie scene is ready to welcome it with open arms.<\/p>\n<p>Vicsoccer, a division of KWsoccer out of Ontario, is starting a recreational league later this spring and, according to league organizers, flexibility is what gives it the advantage over Victoria\u2019s largest and longest-running organized soccer league, the Vancouver Island Soccer League (VISL).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6624\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6624\" style=\"width: 444px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/KWS_2011_08_30-125-treated-for-cover.tif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6624 \" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/KWS_2011_08_30-125-treated-for-cover.tif\" width=\"444\" height=\"220\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6624\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new soccer league will launch in town later this spring (photo by Thomas Kolodziej)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying to target an audience that couldn\u2019t really go on to a scheduled team, pay out their $500 at the beginning of the season, and have to show up to all 18 games at that time and that date,\u201d explains Vicsoccer managing partner Stephen Sheard-Teska. \u201cOur concept was we\u2019re going to book the games for you; if you feel like coming out and it works for you, then that\u2019s when we want to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Launched in 2009, KWsoccer was designed as a drop-in league but has since taken off as a more structured league with over 2,000 players registered yearly and more than 250 games played. Organizers hope that it will take off in Victoria as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about convenience,\u201d says Vicsoccer advisor Vince Cryne. \u201cThere are two types of players for this league. One is a player who wants to play consistently. And the other is a player who can\u2019t commit. He\u2019s got a wife and kids, he\u2019s got a job and his family, but he\u2019d like to go to a website and see, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s a game on Wednesday and I can register for it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Local soccer players have identified the need for a more casual league in town and say the VISL\u2019s strict attendance rules can often turn off the casual player.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe VISL is a great option for the committed soccer player who has the time and energy to guarantee he or she will show up to every practice and game,\u201d says Tony Drolet, a high-school teacher who has been playing in the VISL for 25 years. \u201cThe more casual soccer player is left out of this equation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Doug McDannold, a public servant who has played organized soccer for 20 years and has been in the VISL for the past 12, says Vicsoccer could be exactly what Victoria\u2019s soccer scene needs, taking pressure off the existing league to satisfy everyone\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTons of people want to play soccer in Victoria, and an organized but casual league would fill a niche between purely pickup soccer and truly competitive play,\u201d says McDannold.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Vince Greco, president of the VISL, isn\u2019t overly concerned about a new league popping up in town. Despite qualms about players playing in more than one league, Greco says, ultimately, the more people playing the game, the better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you can get anyone into soccer,\u201d says Greco, \u201cno matter what the league format, that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new soccer league promising a more casual playing atmosphere is readying its launch in Victoria, and the local footie scene is ready to welcome it with open arms. Vicsoccer, a division of KWsoccer out of Ontario, is starting a recreational league later this spring and, according to league organizers, flexibility is what gives it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-march-20-2013"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6622"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6675,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6622\/revisions\/6675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}