Message From The Coach
Richmond SOBC’s soccer program really flourished this year under the direction of new head coach Jeff Pawer and assistants David Aharon and Adam Jedrzejek. This year we started in the fall playing indoor soccer and are about to culminate the program with outdoor soccer until the end of June. The soccer program worked very hard this year at accomplishing some new and innovative goals and introduced a real focus on teaching the athletes usable soccer skills. Coach Jeff brings many years of experience of coaching soccer at a high level and really worked hard at teaching the athletes new soccer skills through practice and repetition. The focal point all year has been on improving individual skills and then using these skills in a team environment. In addition, a strong culture of respect was brought to the program in that the athletes were all trained in mutual respect for their fellow athletes and coaches. This culture of respect in the program brought back some former athletes who now had the opportunity to become better soccer players and really enjoy the experience along the way. The Richmond SOBC soccer program gets invited to two major soccer tournaments per year. The first tournament is a smaller one hosted by the Vancouver local. It seems each year Richmond does well but generally ends up in second place to our friendly competitors in Delta. However, through the dedicated hard work of coaches, volunteers and especially the athletes, Richmond was able to edge Delta in the final to win the tournament’s “A” division this year. The second tournament is hosted by the Surrey local in which Richmond’s very committed soccer team was seeded in the top five (5) teams out of the total 19 teams entered. Well done team! I would like to congratulate my assistants and volunteers and all the wonderful athletes that participated in a very respectful, sportsmanlike, fun and successful year. I would also like to invite and encourage athletes of other Special Olympic sports that want to learn how to play soccer to join us in the amazing experience known as Special Olympics soccer. Jeff June 12 2009 | 