1a.  Organization
Whitehorse Minor Soccer Association, Box 5538, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 4Z2.
Tel: 667-2445. Fax: 667-4237 (Sport Yukon). Email: deleted. Web: www.yukonsoccer.yk.ca/minor

1b.  Contact Person
Doug Hitch, Director, WMSA. Daytime: 668-8824. Fax: 668-8825. deleted
[alternate: Grant MacDonald, Past President, WMSA. Daytime: 667-7885. deleted]

2.  Organization Type
Registered non-profit organization

3.  Organization’s Mandate
The Whitehorse Minor Soccer Association (WMSA) has been providing low-cost, easily accessible recreational soccer opportunities to the youth of Whitehorse since at least 1985. The programs have enjoyed rapid growth. In the 1999-2000 indoor season, close to 500 youth played soccer twice weekly in gymnasiums. In the summer season of 2000, over 1200 youth played outdoor soccer. WMSA runs a soccer camp for youth every July. It supplied and maintains the cross-field goal posts on 13 local fields, and is responsible for the line painting during its outdoor season.

4a.  Project’s Basic Goals
To examine the feasibility of constructing an indoor soccer centre in Whitehorse. The study will be general and open-ended. It will focus on need, benefit, impact and cost. Three possible solutions will be examined: 1) stand-alone dedicated facility (Lethbridge model); 2) inclusion or attachment to the Multiplex (Red Deer model); 3) attachment to a school (Vanier gymnastics model). The terms of reference for the study will be determined by a working group made up of representatives from soccer, Sport & Recreation, Education and the City.

4b.  Need for the Study
Indoor soccer centres are now an established part of the recreation landscape in Alberta, and growing in acceptance throughout Canada (see website). But in Whitehorse, the concept itself is alien. No adult in Whitehorse grew up playing indoor soccer in a dedicated facility. It is easy for average Canadian adults to understand the need for ice surfaces, curling rinks and pools because these were part of their lifestyle as youths. Most Whitehorse adults never even played outdoor soccer in their youth. It is natural that they will have less sympathy for a sport for which they have had no personal involvement.
The Whitehorse soccer community now recognizes the value of an indoor centre. At the Multiplex open house, last November 9, 50% of the 275 respondents included indoor soccer as a response to the question, "What types of programs would you and your family want to see at the Whitehorse multiplex?" (Johnston Sport, Final Report, 2.2.1) This was the third largest response for indoor programming, after cardio fitness training (52%) and walking/jogging/running (51%). Several indoor soccer teams, even some adult ones, have travelled to southern centres for tournaments. Every year more people take up the sport, increasing demand on facilities, and heightening awareness of the need for dedicated space. The website and increasing coverage in the media (see website) are also raising awareness. But there are still many in Whitehorse who are aware neither of the acute need, nor of the viability of the possible responses to it. A study would help address this shortcoming.

4c.  Need for the Centre
There is a critical shortage of gymnasium space in Whitehorse. All user groups would like better hours and better gyms. By far the largest user of gym space is WMSA with close to 500 youth playing two games a week on more than 50 teams. The growth of the indoor game has been dramatic, almost doubling in the last five years. In 1998-99 WMSA had to break from its traditional Tuesday-Thursday schedule to use gyms the four days, Monday-Thursday. In 1999-2000 it was necessary to expand further to a six day schedule, Monday to Saturday. A two-field centre would not only give soccer athletes a home and place to grow, but it would free up an enormous amount of gym space for other groups. The current city gym crisis would be over. Leisure Services of the City of Whitehorse conducted user-group consultations early this summer to try to find better ways of allocating space. The consultation would not have been necessary had soccer already found a place outside of the school gyms.
Often special events such as exams or band concerts take priority over gym space. It can be difficult to schedule around these. In 1999 the WMSA Board of Directors elected to abandon scheduling for December altogether because of scheduling and administration problems in the past. Also, the best gyms, at the high schools, are reserved for school use in early evenings. With a dedicated indoor soccer centre, community users would have access to the facility at all times, including early evenings, weekends and school holidays.

Gymnasiums are less desirable than a dedicated facility for physical reasons. The playing area varies widely among gyms. For instance, last season, some divisions in WMSA played one night in Holy Family, a tiny gym, and then in the spacious Yukon College gym. This is like playing hockey on a neighbourhood rink and then in Takhini arena. A dramatic change in gym size affects the game significantly. Gyms are not designed for soccer. The walls are important for the indoor game, but every gym has numerous obstacles on the wall, such as bleachers, climbing apparatus and door jambs, which interfere with play. These obstacles are also a safety hazard. At the recent Arctic Winter Games in Vanier large gym, the Nunavut junior girls' best player was injured by a collision with a metal door jamb in her second game and spent the tournament on crutches. A dedicated centre would provide a consistent playing area, one which is not only more suitable to the game, but also safer.
The flexihall in the proposed multiplex would likely do little to diminish the need for a centre. This structure will be just another gymnasium with the same drawbacks as other gyms. With the expected continued growth of the indoor game, this gym would be full of youth soccer as soon as it is constructed and so would not be available to adult groups with any sport, including soccer. On the other hand, construction of an indoor centre might eliminate the need for a flexihall by freeing up many prime time gymnasium hours.
Soccer centres are a feature of many communities in Canada. In Alberta, every city has a centre in use, under construction or in planning. Soccer centres in that province have become as much a part of the sport culture as arenas and pools. Both multiplexes under development in Alberta, in Red Deer and Strathcona, have a two-field soccer centre component. In Whitehorse, indoor soccer has been the largest youth winter team sport for several years. It will inevitably be regarded as part of the culture here as well. In many other parts of Canada indoor soccer is the number one winter team sport. It could soon be part of the Canada Winter Games. The Canadian Soccer Association has formally requested that the CWG Society include indoor soccer as a sport.
In Alberta and other regions, moving indoor soccer from gyms to a soccer centre results in an immediate jump in the number of people involved in the game. And then, the number using the centre doubles in 3-5 years. Following this pattern, a centre built in Whitehorse in the next two years could conceivably see more than a thousand youth playing indoor soccer by 2005.
The indoor game is sometimes regarded as secondary or inferior to the outdoor version and so to be less worthy of consideration in recreation planning. This is an unfortunate misconception. Many prefer to play the indoor game over the outdoor because it is faster and there are more touches on the ball. The game has rapid growth in Whitehorse even with play restricted to gyms. There is a professional indoor soccer team in Edmonton, the Drillers, which plays in the Coliseum against teams from Montreal and several US cities. The status of the indoor game is rising across Canada and in Whitehorse. Many spectators and media people at the Arctic Winter Games thought that the soccer venue was the most exciting one.
Indoor soccer surfaces can be used for many field and indoor sports such as ball hockey, lacrosse, flag football, arena football, volleyball, ultimate (frisbee), badminton, tennis and lawn bowling. You can do everything on the turf of an indoor field that you can do in a gym except bounce a basketball.
The growing sport of rock climbing needs a higher wall than those available in gyms for practice and holding competitions.
Administration needs of soccer have grown dramatically with the sport. The 1600 Whitehorse athletes who registered in YSA affiliated soccer groups in 1999 need more storage and office space than the small room occupied by the part-time administrator. A soccer centre would provide centralized office and meeting space. It might also provide storage space for equipment which is currently stored in several locations, including people's homes.

5.  Project Detail
The terms of reference for the study will be determined by a working group made up of representatives from soccer, Sport & Recreation branch, Education, and the City. At this stage it is known that the consultant(s) involved in the study will examine at least the following background issues:

In addition, the study will examine the implications, viability, and comparative advantages and disadvantages of three types of solutions:

The study is expected to include consultation as needed with provincial and local soccer associations, architects, construction firms, board and turf suppliers, centre operating managers and others.

6)  Employment created
The main employment beneficiary of the study will likely be a local financial management consultant/economist. This person or persons may also need to hire an architectural or construction firm to provide some information.

7)  Employment Equity
The contractor will make every effort to provide equal employment and training opportunities for all workers, including women, First Nations people, and persons with disabilities.

8.  Location
The work on the study will be conducted in Whitehorse. Consultation with soccer centre designers, builders and managers in the south can be conducted by telephone and email. The proposed facility would be located within Whitehorse.

9.  Permits
If any permits are required they will be the responsibility of the contractor.

10.  Recent WMSA Special Projects
WMSA constructed the George White Soccer Field at Jeckell (now Vanier) School in 1989, and reconstructed the FH Collins Soccer Field in 1992. WMSA runs a soccer camp for youth every summer. In 1999 WMSA began the reconstruction of the Christ the King soccer field, which should be in service for the community in September 2000.

11.  Other involved or co-sponsoring groups
The Whitehorse Indoor Soccer Centre Facilities Committee has been working for some time on centre development. The committee has representatives from WMSA, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, the Yukon Soccer Association, the Yukon Selects, Masters Soccer, Coed Soccer and the Rock Climbing Association of the Yukon. WMSA is applying for the CDF grant on behalf of these other groups. The FH Collins School Council has passed a resolution in favour of building an indoor centre, but this application is not directed at a specific site. The terms of reference for the feasibility study will be made by representatives from WMSA, Sport & Recreation Branch, the Department of Education, and the City of Whitehorse. Letters are attached from:

12.  Other community support
Letters are attached from:

13.  Benefit to WMSA, other groups, and the community
The study itself benefits WMSA, other groups and the community by giving us firmer grounds for further discussion of the indoor centre project. The eventual building will provide numerous benefits.

WMSA's indoor program, with 500 players, is the biggest user of gymnasium space in the city, and is rapidly growing. A new facility would make it easier to accommodate growth. It would also free up gym space for the other groups such as basketball, volleyball, badminton, judo, archery, guides or scouts that have experienced increasing difficulty getting gym space in recent years. Soccer groups use more gyms space than all other groups combined. There are at least another 200 regular soccer players in gyms beyond WMSA's 500.

The board and turf style of game has a team size of 15-18 while the gymnasium game as played by WMSA has a limit of 9. An indoor centre would reduce the number of coaches needed by almost half. Or, the program could double to 1,000 players without needing many new coaches.

Administration is simplified with a centre. Currently any materials which need to get out to players and coaches are distributed from the soccer office to the division coordinators who drive around the city to various venues and homes to deliver the materials to the coaches. With a centre, every coach could pick up their materials from the soccer office at their next game. Also, a simple bulletin board would help soccer administration reach all participants.

The current administrative needs of soccer have outgrown the small office in the Sport Yukon building. Sport Yukon normally assists organizations with registrations but had to cease doing so in 1999 for regular WMSA registration because of the excessive numbers and demand on Sport Yukon staff.

WMSA in 1999-2000 abandoned play in December because of the difficulty in scheduling. School events cause many gym hours to be cancelled. With a home for soccer, there would be no problem with playing in December. A soccer camp could be run during the December school break during the day. Schools are closed at this time and are generally unavailable, even to rep teams.

In almost every gym, spectators and family trek across the gym floor before, after and during games to reach seating. Besides the obvious nuisance to play, there is the problem of snow and grit deposited by outdoor shoes. Players slip on water or sand and risk injury. Spectators also risk being struck by errant balls kicked from close range. Minor injuries and broken glasses occur every season to fans. In a proper centre, spectators have seating similar to an arena and are protected by netting (see website photos).

One complaint that the local Arctic Winter Games teams for several sports had in the period before the 2000 games was the unavailability of gym space. There simply wasn't any for special scrimmages or extra practices. A centre would not only alleviate the shortage of gym space, but would also provide elite athletes with a suitable training facility.

Besides WMSA there are several other organized soccer groups in town. The Yukon Soccer Association has around 135 youth involved in the Developmental Teams programs. These teams use gyms for regular training during the long period when grass is unavailable. YSA also runs the Yukon Championships each year in March for the territory’s soccer-playing youth. The tournament involves all of the WMSA teams as well as many from the communities. The tournament grows every year and this year, for instance, there were 16 U11 teams. The developmental team activities and the Yukon championships will benefit from having an indoor centre.

The Men's Soccer League has about 120 players and the Women's Soccer League has about 100 players. In recent years due to gym space restrictions neither group has been successful in creating an indoor league although some of the Men scrimmage in Vanier large, Sundays 8-11. In October 1999 a new coed indoor league began with play at 9 on Wednesdays and 7 on Sundays. The league finished the season with 6 teams and 60 players. This summer of 2000, the coed league registered over 120 players in its first outdoor season. Organizers are planning for an 8 team indoor season with from 80 to 100 players for 2000-2001 and are keeping fingers crossed about finding gym space to meet demand.

The Yukon Selects premier development team (1999 Alaska State Champions) uses gyms to train. The team is a mix of adult players and top youth. It participated in an indoor tournament in Prince George in 1999 and played in a Lethbridge tournament on March 31, 2000. Last November the Selects and a group of all star women played the Men's and Women's Canada Summer Games teams in a fund-raising event at the Vanier gymnasium that was sold out.

There are two different, informal and unnamed adult groups which play pick up games in small gyms, late nights and weekends. Finally, the Whitehorse Rapids, an over-40 men's team, used city gyms to prepare for the Masters Tournament in Prince George on March 31, 2000, and will be using gyms to prepare for the same tournament in 2001.

All of these adult groups would benefit from having a proper board and turf system. It would provide more recreation opportunities for adults and allow for program expansion. As well it would dramatically improve training potential for competitive groups. Teams which compete in the indoor centres in the south will be better able to prepare. And because the playing area is larger and turfed, the transition to the outdoor game is easier.

Soccer atheletes have complained for years about the Vanier floor and it is being replaced this summer. About half the city gyms have coated concrete floors and all these lead to sore feet and impact injuries. There are now turf systems available which are safer and kinder to bodies than even natural grass. In the Alberta facilities there are no reports of impact injuries. A proper facility will lower risk of injury from the flooring. There will also be much less risk of injury resulting from obstacles which protrude from walls such as door jambs, climbing apparatus and bleachers. The boards form a smooth surface as in an ice rink.

The arena style facility with boards offers more consistent and enjoyable play. There is a regular surface for rebounding the ball and the rounded corners keep the play moving. In the gyms, youth currently need to dodge trampolines and mats, and to fetch balls from behind bleachers in the course of a game. The balls bounce in unexpected directions off climbing apparatus and door jambs. There are traffic jams in the corners. Soccer associations which have moved from the gyms to centres report tremendous user satisfaction and a big jump in numbers, commonly doubling in two years.

Youth soccer brings not only more youth into gyms than any other activity, but also the most spectators, the most grit from winter shoes, and the most wear and tear. A soccer centre would reduce the mess and damage to school gyms.

Indoor soccer centres have large unused rear walls which are ideal for a rock climbing installation. Climbers require very little horizontal space but like a lot of vertical. Rock climbing could be carried on at the same time that the fields are in use. A bigger wall than those built recently in local schools would allow Whitehorse to host major competitions for this growing sport.

Some alternate uses of soccer centres are obvious such as for indoor lacrosse or arena football. But many are imaginative. In Calgary a large senior citizens lawn bowling league fills the fields on weekdays. The centre has held auto shows and an eight-ball tournament. In Lethbridge a big early spring user is baseball and the past two New Year's Eves have seen dances with 1,000 Mormons. In summer in Medicine Hat, the turf and boards are replaced by earth and horses. Edmonton and Lethbridge feature summer roller hockey leagues playing on concrete with the soccer boards. Ottawa has an ultimate frisbee league. Several centres are located near outdoor fields and so summer soccer camps are run from these, with players using change rooms, showers, food service and meeting areas, and coaches using the administrative facilities. Besides these kinds of activities, Whitehorse could also benefit from a large indoor space for local special events such as the Remembrance Day ceremony, the fall fair, Frostbite, and the Spruce Bog.

If attached to a school, the phys-ed classes would have large indoor fields for their activities. A strong intramural sports program could be developed which would help reinforce the sense of community in the school. And if not attached to a school, the facility would still be available for daytime use by schools in the way that the pool and the arenas are currently.

The Alberta centres are all financially successful and most are run entirely on user contributions. The Lethbridge centre, which is the model stand-alone facility for Whitehorse, has had an operating profit in its first and second years. Not only has it received no operating subsidy from the city, but half its net profit has gone back into the capital cost. Even with higher construction and operating costs in the north, a Whitehorse centre should have very economical user fees. Users will pay more than they do now with the gyms, but the costs per person, per recreation hour will still likely be less than for any other facility.

14.  Budget
For further details, please refer to the attached estimate by Luigi Zanassi

16.  Other resources
Both the Yukon Territorial Government and the City of Whitehorse have identified officers who will participate in the working group which will establish the terms of reference for the feasibility study:

All members of the Whitehorse Indoor Soccer Centre Facilities Committee will contribute volunteer hours wherever necessary.

17.  Ongoing Maintenance Costs
No costs of this kind are involved.

18.  Starting and Completion
The project will begin in late September, 2000 and be completed in two to three months.

19.  Cash Flow
There will be invoices from the consultant when the study is half done, and when completed. CDF will hold back 10% until the final report is submitted. WMSA will have no cash flow problems between payment for the work and reimbursement from CDF

21  Manager of the Project’s Finances
Cindy Cherinet, Treasurer, Whitehorse Minor Soccer Association. w) 667-5350. Fax: 393-6217. Cindy.Cherinet@gov.yk.ca

22.  Work to Date
The Project Manager and others have conducted research into all aspects of indoor centres across Canada and have consulted with provincial and local soccer associations, architects, construction firms, board and turf suppliers and centre operating managers. Some of the results of this work can be viewed on the web site dedicated to the project: www.yukonsoccer.yk.ca/indoor_centre.

23.  Authorization of the Application
 

We are submitting this application for the purpose of obtaining financial assistance from the Government of the Yukon. The statements herein and in all further submissions in regard to this application are, to the best of our knowledge, true and correct. We submit that, to the best of our knowledge, all aspects of the proposed project will be in compliance with existing municipal, territorial and federal codes, guidelines and laws. We agree to allow representatives of the Government of the Yukon access to the site and premises of the project described in this application, to inspect the books and records, to make inquiries and credit checks and to obtain all pertinent information necessary to evaluate this application. We understand that all or part of this application may be made available to the public in accordance with the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

_______________________________  ____________________________
Wendie Osborne  (date)  Grant MacDonald  (date)
President    Past President
Whitehorse Minor Soccer Association  Whitehorse Minor Soccer Association