Spiritfest is back and the Barrie Soccer Club (BSC) is ready to welcome teams from across the province for their big weekend of tournament action.
The 14th annual Spiritfest tournament will be held at the Nursery Road soccer fields in Midhurst and the BSC complex on Currie Drive, just outside the Barrie city limits.
The tournament will see 80 teams compete in the event for the first time since 2019, due to COVID restrictions.
Club president Will Devellis told BarrieToday he has been looking forward to this weekend for two years. He says they have already been receiving emails from teams and clubs providing "amazing feedback" about the event.
Planning began last October and Devellis said one of the first steps was to review the tournament's post-event report to help find areas where they could improve and grow.
In addition to the Spiritfest committee, which does everything from securing sponsorships and scheduling to set-up/teardown and registrations, the club also relies heavily on game-day volunteers, with approximately 25 volunteers each day to help out as field marshals with responsibilities such as collecting game sheets and providing directions to visitors.
Spiritfest "is truly a community event," he said.
The financial benefit of this weekend's tournament is a positive one for the city, too, says Devellis.
“The economic impact to our city will be largely positive this weekend for hotel income, travel tourism and the restaurant businesses," he said.
This weekend there will be teams participating between the age groups of 13 to 18 in both genders. There are also approximately 15 Barrie teams involved in the event.
This is also the start of the BSC house-league season with registration more than 2,000, the highest it's been since COVID began, Devellis said.
On top of his role as BSC president, Devellis is also chief operating officer and co-owner of the Simcoe County Rovers FC. The League1 Ontario club is hosting a doubleheader this weekend at Georgian College's JC Massie Field.
BSC has partnered with the Rovers to have a Soccer Day in Barrie on Saturday. All Barrie Spiritfest participants are being offered discounted tickets to the Rovers matches on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. (women's game) and 8 p.m. (men's game).
As busy as this weekend will be, Devellis says he's happy to know the club and the community are finally getting back to normal after a rough two years.
“Although I will be coaching two teams during the tournament, I will be taking the time in between matches to walk around and thank our volunteers, welcome our visitors, and really take in the hard work we have put in to make this a huge success,” he said.
“Through the COVID pandemic, the Barrie Soccer Club was the only organization in the Huronia area to consistently run a training and development program," Devellis added. "We are seeing the hard work we put in coming to the forefront in the form of excellent soccer and team performances by our teams.”
Spiritfest schedules, scores, standings, and other information can be found by clicking here.
