Chalmers sees growth potential in Westman soccer
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/05/2024 (690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Orlin Chalmers has a grand vision for Westman soccer.
The technical director of Westman Regional Soccer Association wants the sport he dedicated much of his life to become a whole lot more than the two- or three-month activity it is in a region with far more action on ball diamonds than pitches on summer nights.
Chalmers has proof of what his programming can do and showed it to a group of girls at WRSA’s spring camp on Saturday with guest speaker Danielle Krzyzaniak talking to athletes via Zoom call from Czechia. Krzyzaniak, who trained with Chalmers in Ontario before playing NCAA Division I soccer at Jacksonville State, is currently the starting goalkeeper for AC Sparta, one of the top teams in the Czech women’s professional league.
“That’s something I want that message to be conveyed to the girls, that this sport is more than just a recreational thing. It’s something that can take you across the world, across an ocean. That realization needs to be there for players, especially females, they need to see someone that looks like them,” Chalmers said.
Chalmers took the WRSA job last summer, along with the head coach gig for the Brandon University women’s team. He left the Bobcats after leading them to their first Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference title since 2017 to focus on developing the game in Westman from the ground up.
In his opinion, he spotted one key issue when he arrived — there’s only one level of play for younger kids.
“The big thing is separating community stream, which is house league program, and higher-level play. There needs to be a distinct pathway, which is what we’re trying to create here,” Chalmers said.
“Once that pathway is created and we all participate in it, as a collective we’ll see development in the area.”
Chalmers is splitting programming into two sections, skill centre and junior development. Skill centre is a once-weekly session for players of all abilities to play and work on technique in a fun setting.
Junior development will be at least twice a week for select players to train in a more competitive environment.
Chalmers said under-six is the age group to start moving stronger players into advanced streams.
“Just because you’re in JDP doesn’t mean you’re going to stay in JDP, just because you’re in skill centre doesn’t mean you’re going to stay in skill centre,” he said.
“We want to create an avenue for all players because we don’t know who’s going to develop at what time and at what rate.”
Chalmers plans to expand youth soccer this winter by building a two-tiered league system, as well as adding to the Westman FC program. Currently, the club has four boys’ teams but lacks girls’ teams.
Chalmers plans to change that for 2025.
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