Thunder Bay, Ont., soccer programs struggle for space as national teams' success soars

Cameron Pytyck says that from the opening kickoff on Sunday to the final whistle when the Canadian men's national team beat Jamaica 4-0 to qualify for their first World Cup appearance since 1986, the mood at BMO Field in Toronto was "electric."

As Pytyckand his ex-pat friends who grew up playing soccer in Thunder Bay, Ont.,made their way through the celebrations in Toronto's streets and bars, their conversation turned to what the event, as well as the Olympic gold-medal run of Canada's women's team, could mean to soccer culture back home.

"This needs to be a big, big, big almost slap in the face to everyone who doesn't think people in Thunder Bay, where we're from, needs facilities and needs places to play. Because this is Canada now," Pytyck said. "We need to be able to have places where kids can play and grow up, and be and do exactly what Canada did here, and be a part of that."

Tony Colistro,executive director of Thunder Bay Chill, saidthe club's spring soccer programs are taking names for wait lists after enrolment filled on the first day of registration. Including youth, men's and women's competitive teams as well as recreational leagues, 2,000 young people are enrolled in soccer programs, he estimated. That's nearly asmany as the 2,300 playing in local minor hockey associations.

'They know soccer'

Colistro saidsoccer programs can't accommodate all the kids who want to play, and that willonly get tighter in the future.

"We always knew soccer was a participant sport because of the affordability," he said. "In terms of who can play, we talk about this influx of immigrants who come from all over the world. They don't come with hockey skates because that's not what they know. They know soccer."

After a year that saw Lakehead Express double its enrolment, the program rebranded itself as Lakehead Superior Rush this month. Coach Olivia Czipf saidjoining the Rush club will transform their part of the soccer movement, as opportunities now exist to train and play with Rush-affiliated clubs all over North America and Europe.

"With the Canadian women's team improving every year and speaking up for women's equality in sport, I find our younger age groups, kids are more inspired to come play soccer and have aspirations to play at that higher level," Czipf said.

"As kids are getting more inspired by the women and men's soccer teams, we're giving them the opportunity now to achieve those dreams."

Both clubs say the potential for growth has been limited by available playing space since the sports dome on the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grounds collapsed in 2016.

City seeking funding for new facility

Thunder Bay city council voted against building a $37-million indoor multi-use indoor turf facility a year ago, and the soccer community has been in a holding pattern ever since.

The City of Thunder Bay is still waiting on an application it filed to Infrastructure Canada last July that, if successful, would contribute over $22 million to the proposed multi-sport turf facility.

Kelly Robertson, Thunder Bay's general manager of community services, said the cityanticipateit willhear a response by November.

The city is embarking on a new round of community consultation next week to consider whether needs have changed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Stakeholders will be asked for direction, should the federal government reject the city's application. In the event the government approves the city's request, Robertson wants to test the appetite for a non-profit or private company to operate the facility.

In the meantime, indoor soccer players have been playing on carpet atone of the two hockey rinks at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre.

Fifteen-year-old Peter Mork, whose under-16 Thunder Bay Chill team won the Ontario Indoor Cup in February, said the facility is less than ideal the floor is hard on players' joints and the ball frequently goesout of play in a facility that's not designed for soccer.

Although he can see the adults have yet to work out a solution to the lack of space while interest in the game surges, Petersaid the success of Canada's national teams is so infectious that it shows young players in the city that they can play on that level.

"It will get better eventually, and eventually there will be a place to play," he said. "It will just be a matter of time, so keep playing."