The Citizen, 2015-11-05, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015. PAGE 9.
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Futsal club enters new year with more players, teams
Thanks to a successful first year
for the organization, Huron FC, a
local futsal, or indoor soccer club,
has grown by leaps and bounds.
The organization fielded one
competitive team and eight players
last year and this year is looking at
three teams and 22 players this year.
“Our first year as an organization,
we did a lot,” organizer Annie
Sparling of Blyth said. “We fielded a
competitive team and we had skills
and drills camps. We ran summer
and spring programs and the players
we had were taught by professional
coaches. That’s what made the kids
that really love soccer come out and
join us for this year.”
Sparling said that, with the
numbers they are looking at now,
they are considering the first year
very successful in getting the word
out about futsal.
With its assessment and first
training sessions behind it, the
organization is moving forward with
the hopes of another successful
season, though it won’t be with
Poncho Melo, former professional
soccer player from Mexico at the
helm again this year.
Sparling explained that Melo is
returning to his business, which had
been taking more time than he
anticipated, so the organization has
sought out additional help to co-
ordinate coaches and training for the
season.
Sparling said the teams are being
coached Edwin Saraccini, who is
president of the London Canadian
Futsal Club, and his associates.
Saraccini and the other professionals
he is bringing will come and train
the teams on Mondays and coach
their games on weekends.
Saraccini is from El Salvador and
has coached futsal and soccer for 15
years, leading many teams in both
sports to championships. Last year,
he coached his U16 Boys futsal team
to a provincial championship.
Being a part of one of the teams,
which welcome players 10-15 years
old, requires a significant
commitment from players with
practices on Tuesday and Thursday
at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary
School for two time slots (10-12
year olds earlier and 13-15 year olds
later) as well as additional training
throughout the season, prior to
games, in London.
“We are still open to a few more
players if they are looking to join,”
she said. “We have a lot of the
younger players so they end up
playing up which is great for them,
but if there are any skilled players
born in 2001 to 2003, we would
welcome them to the team.”
The team will also be participating
in a tournament in Niagara Falls, on
top of its regular games in London.
For more information, contact
Sparling at 519-524-0609.
SHEAR TALENT
Hair Design & Tanning
Colour $4450 + tax
45 West St., Goderich 519-524-6555
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Keeping the pressure on
The Blyth Brussels PeeWee Local League Crusaders faced off against the Howick Hornets
on Wednesday, Oct. 28 in Blyth and came out with a 4-1 win. The team next takes on the
Goderich Sailors, in Goderich, on Nov. 9. (Denny Scott photo)
Food, drink strategy initiated
The new Huron Local Food and
Drink Strategy was launched last
week in Holmesville as part of a
special networking evening at the
White Carnation.
The program will be rolled out
over the course of the next year and
a half in three phases.
The first phase, which is already
underway and will run until
February, is the market assessment.
The market assessment phase will
include the organization of a Project
Advisory Committee, the hiring of a
consultant to work with local agri-
culinary businesses, the
development of a regional business
model, local research and the
creation of a map and assessment of
the nearly 250 of businesses
currently producing food and drink
in Huron County.
Also during this phase, the group
will hold two or three stakeholder
meetings and develop a county-wide
local drink group and work with the
development of a local chefs’ group.
The second phase, entitled new
product development, will run from
February to May, 2016. In it, a
consultant will be hired to work with
the county’s food and drink
stakeholders. The consultant will
also assess the tourism product
development opportunities, which
will include trails, tours and
experiences throughout Huron.
In this phase, there will be a focus
on storytelling in which organizers
will initiate storytelling discussions
with participants, as well as
formalizing a county-wide drink
group comprised of local wine and
grape growers, as well as local beer
and cider makers.
The third phase of the strategy
will be branding and marketing,
running from May, 2016 until the
end of the year. In this phase, the
plan is to hire a consultant to further
implement the work done in the first
two phases, while working on
partnership development and
marketing and branding.
The strategy is being rolled out by
the Huron Tourism Association,
Huron County, the Huron
Manufacturing Association and the
Huron Food Action Network.
“This strategy will help to further
develop and grow Huron County’s
culinary tourism, agriculture
processing businesses and
strengthen our local food
system,” a press release from the
group said.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
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