Whitehall Soccer kicks off a big change

The Whitehall Youth Soccer Association has decided to join the Montana Youth Soccer Association (MYSA) and they are hosting the start of registration October 26th with a fun night of indoor soccer. As a member of MYSA our players ages 11 or 12 and up can play teams from all over the state at their level including Bozeman, Butte, Livingston, Big Timber, Missoula, Plains, Red Lodge, Helena and others. Typically, we will meet in Bozeman, Helena and Missoula to play games.

The past several years, Whitehall’s older soccer players have traveled each weekend to play the Vigilante soccer league in Helena. Our kids ended up playing the same few teams on a weekly basis on the same fields. The change to MYSA will bring more competitive play and more interesting destinations for our players and their families.

Some of the other exciting benefits to this change is that our teams will play only on Saturdays. Vigilante was only interested in playing Fridays and Sundays, which was a challenge for many Whitehall families. According to Ashley Todd, a soccer coach who played in the MYSA league in High School, college recruiters scout for players at MYSA tournaments. In fact, Todd was noticed at MYSA tournaments and went on to play soccer for University of Great Falls for four years while she earned her teaching degree.

Younger kids won’t

be affected

This change to MYSA won’t affect the younger kids soccer program which includes players from ages 3 to about ten. Practice and games for these kids will stay in Whitehall.

Registration Event Planned for October 26

Having teams formed earlier than normal is a big change that comes with the switch to MYSA. Whitehall Soccer is having a registration night on October 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Parents can sign up while kids play some soccer in the gym. Payment plans are available — full payment is not required at registration night. Whitehall soccer will need to have its teams formed by January 2018 in time for the state-wide scheduling meeting. Soccer registration will be open until January 2018. Representatives from Whitehall Baseball will be on hand to answer questions about baseball as well.

Registration fees for Jamboree (3-4 year olds) will stay at $35. Fees for five to 10 year olds will stay at $45. Kids 11 through 19 will have their fees increased to $120 to pay the additional team fees required for traveling teams under MYSA. Kids can register now and pay for registration between now and February. We will have limited scholarships available as well.

Volunteers run the program

Soccer is completely independent and run by parents and other soccer fans. MYSA requires us to bring a certified ref to each game, so we will be looking for additional parents to attend ref training. We will still need volunteers to coach and ref games, organize registration, etc. Maintaining our fields at Cardwell is a big job for which we need help. If you or someone enjoys mowing and maintaining grounds, please let us know.

For more information, call Tara Mastel 490-4180, Eric McMillian at 490-0687 or Kyra Williams at 565-0839.