Thunder Bay women's league cancels indoor soccer season over lack of space

The Thunder BayWomen's Soccer Clubhas cancelled this winter's indoor soccer season due to a lack of places to play in the city.

"We don't have any plans for an indoor season this year," club president Gwen Gamble said Tuesday."Nowhere, nothing."

Gamble said the women's indoor league was growing until the collapse of the Sports Dome during a winter storm in November 2016, with nearly 30 teams playing.

• Indoor soccer players again struggling to find space, Soccer Northwest says

The dome hosted the women's league's indoor games other organizations, including the Thunder Bay Men's League, also played their indoor soccer there and the league scrambled to find a new place to play after the collapse.

They landed at LakeheadUniversity, spending that winter playing in late-night time slotson the Hangar's turf field with a smaller number of teams.

There was hope for a new dedicated place to play last winter, with Soccer Northwest working on a temporary indoor soccer facility with a turf field at a former sawmill on Maureen Street.

However, a private company appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, and the project was halted, again sending leagues scrambling to find a place to play.

• Thunder Bay soccer organization 'saddened' over indoor field dispute
• Soccer Northwest weighing options as plans for winter season halted

The women's league spent the winter of 2017/2018playing in thegym in Lakehead'sfieldhouse, again late at night, or Sunday mornings.

Those times are a big reason why there won't be any indoor play this year, Gamble said.

"The games at the fieldhouse were Sunday mornings ... which is also not a great time for players, because a lot of our players are mothers with children," she said. "Our time-slots were not every Sunday."

"It wasn't even every weekend," Gamble said. "I'm not going to organize a Sunday morning league, or a 10 o'clock and 11 o'clock Thursday night league. It's a lot of work for the few ... games that we have."

Gamble said she's out of options. Lakehead hasn't indicated there's any free time in the Hangar or fieldhouse, and other possible locations like high school gyms are booked up.

The problem isn't just affecting the women's league.

Men's league hopeful about indoor season

Michael Veneziale, president of the Thunder Bay Men's Soccer League and technical director with Soccer Northwest, said he hopes a limited men's indoor season will take place this year, but nothing is set in stone. The men's league cancelled their season last winter due to a lack of places to play.

Soccer Northwest asked the city if Neebingarena could be converted and used for indoor soccer as a temporary measure. However, the request was denied, Venezialesaid.

Kelly Robertson, the city's community services manager, told CBCNews that the idea was studied, but closing Neebingfor the winter would displace about 3,400 hockey players (not counting those on a waiting list) and 990 hours of prime-time ice.

Interim soccer facility in the works

She said the city spoke with representatives of the Fort William First Nation arena, and the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre, but those facilities couldn't absorb the players affected by the closure of Neebing.

Both Gamble and Venezialeare calling on the city to build a permanent indoor turf sports facility. The city was considering it, but due to uncertainty about matching funding from other levels of government, that project has been put on hold, Robertson said.

Instead, the city is aiming to build a smaller, interim facility for indoor soccer, which would house one FIFA-sized turf field. A request for expressions of interest has been released, and the goal is to have the facility in place by fall 2019.