Perfect Storm of Learning Soccer Skills

Perfect Storm of Learning Soccer Skills

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

Vegreville Minor Soccer Association, (VMSA) U15 Girls (Vegreville Thunder) played their first home game for the year versus the Vermilion U15 Girls on May 10 at RJV Soccer Field.

The Head Coach for U15 Girls is Juan Carlos Sernandez. Other coaches are Alfonso and Tamara Salinas.

Coach Alfonso Salinas said they currently have 16 players in girls U15 team. “The game went well, considering weather and the other team had more players on their advantage, allowing them to sub off more players

U15 Girls Vegreville Thunder play a game against Vermilion U15 Girls.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

at a time and we only had one practice. We were able to score one goal, with six against. I believe that our U15 girls have gained several learning experiences, considering that our association has

had to bring up some U13 players up to U15 to fulfill a team. Some of our players are new, as some have played from previous years which is a learning curve for everyone. I don’t take this game as a loss, but an experience as to where we can improve our gameplay.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

Our team shows passion and resilience, which does not go unnoticed. We will be focusing on several factors to improve gameplay, communication skills, situational awareness, and drills to improve passing. Soccer is much like chess, and isn’t about who’s the fastest and who can score. It’s about playing intellectually, where the ball can travel faster than a player can run and determining plays ahead of time,” Salinas said.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

Kicking Off Memories of Soccer

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

Volunteering for soccer goes a long way back for Jacqueline Dobson.

Dobson explained, “We got together with some people who came from England who worked for Alberta Government Telephones and some people who came from England who worked for Alberta Environment Centre and a handful of people from Vegreville. These people all wanted to form the

Vegreville Minor Soccer Association (VMSA) and that is how VMSA got started in 1977.

U9 Vegreville Twisters 1997. In front row from L-R. Adam Shermack, Leah Klingbeil, Sasha Dobson, Amber Gulevich, Andrew Goertz, Blair Durant, Jared Evert. Middle row from L-R. Kyle Kristensen, Alex Treeshin, Bryce Lowe, Brook Gabruck, Daniel Bilyk, Sean O’Donovan, Ryan Brodziak, Julie Dobson, Brandyn Balaban. Back row from L-R. Coach Jacqueline Dobson, Manager Margaret O’Donovan, Assistant Coach Dale Evert.

(Holiday Photo-Vegreville/Submitted Photo)

I coached soccer for Vegreville Minor Soccer Association at age 13 in 1977 when we moved here. I coached and refereed until I reached the age of 45 which was around 2006. Our U12 girls won the Lakeland Cup and went to provincials.

I achieved the level of Provincial referee for Girls; now women are allowed to be referee assistants at the National and International level. Back then, there were very few girls refereeing and coaching.

Jacqueline Dobson.

(Jacqueline Dobson/Submitted Photo)

Other memories I have are my son, Nickolas Dobson became the team mascot and he had to nap on the sidelines while I was coaching and refereeing; the team and other mothers use to look after him. Also, I remember it always being windy when we coached in Vegreville.” Jacqueline added.