A new soccer organization aims to stop the soccer drop out rate in Simcoe County.
Premier Soccer Institute says there’s a physical literacy epidemic with Canadian children rated among the least active in world in 2016. Despite the importance of activity to overall health, teens and tweens are dropping out of organized sports at an alarming rate. In Simcoe and Huronia over the last three years there has been a 30 per cent decline in soccer program participation across the region.
“It’s an alarming statistic and one that could be helped by getting our children adept in physical education early on,” said Raymond Wright, Director of Barrie’s Premier Soccer Institute (PSI). “I would like to be able to contribute to increasing thatnumber of participants in soccer by 50 per cent in the next two to five years.”
A licensed coach for over 17 years and newly appointed NCCP Movement Preparation instructor, and coach developer for Ontario Soccer, Raymond has built a career on developing successful players who have earned top spots at the University level.
New this Spring, he has developed athletic programs called Tiny Tots for children beginning at 18 months of age. The program aims to foster a genuine desire in children to be active and stay active, through fun but strategic play. When asked how young is too young to start soccer, Raymond says there’s no such thing as ‘too young’.
“There are periods of development when children are more ready to develop basic skills sets,” said Wright. “My idea was to create a program that could grow healthy bodies and healthy minds while building up the child’s confidence at a very early age. Sports programs need to be designed around these concepts that help accelerate training but also foster the child’s long term love of the game.”
Wright’s approach has produced some very talented players in the Simcoe County area and beyond. Ryan Marchan of Barrie comes from a soccer loving family. He left his top tier team in King City team to join Raymond at PSI and has landed a maximum level soccer scholarship with an Ontario university.
“I started training with Raymond when I was 7 years old,” says Marchan. “When I had to make a decision about how much time and energy I wanted to continue investing in soccer, I knew Raymond would do everything he could to help me reach my goals.”
Ryan was scouted at Umbro Showcase tournament in 2016 when he was approached by an assistant coach after U18 division match. “I was thrilled. This is why these Ontario tournaments are so important. Players need opportunities close to home.” Marchan will be starting as captain at Algoma University in the fall.
PSI is going to be sending two teams, one girls and one boys, to the May 20 Umbro showcase in Mississauga and Vaughan, Canada’s top soccer tournament. Scouts from across Canada and the US will be in attendance, scoping out the next round of talent for their respective universities.
“This is why I do this. There is so much potential here in Canada, and more specifically in Simcoe. We all - schools, facilities, coaches, programmers, etc - need to work together to keep kids in this game."
TINY TOTS (18 months – 4 years) starts June 14 and will run for eight weeks on Wednesdays or Saturdays at the Community Wholeness Centre in Barrie, located at 59 Maple Avenue.
COERVER FIRST SKILLS (4.5 – 6 years) starts June 14 for 10 weeks.
PRE ACADEMY (7 – 8 years) starts June 12 for 10 weeks.
To learn more about these programs visit here or register by email at [email protected].
For information about the Umbro Tournament, visit here.
