Ridge Meadows Soccer Club has become one of the most recent B.C. youth clubs to receive their National Youth Club Licence, which club president Mike Savignano says is a massive achievement for their organization.
“This recognizes that our organization meets the highest standards that Canada Soccer has for youth soccer clubs,” said Savignano.
“It’s a very rigorous and extensive process that took us a better part of two years. We were working on a lot of these standards before we officially started the application process, bolstering our staff and programs in some key areas.”
Having this achievement makes Ridge Meadows Soccer Club one of only 13 clubs in the entire province to have a National Youth Club Licence, which required them to meet more than 140 criteria points set out by Canada Soccer.
As a result of recieving this licence, Ridge Meadows Soccer Club can now become associated with the BC Soccer Premier League (BCSPL), which is the highest level of community youth soccer within the province and is a league that many players go through before moving on to post-secondary or professional teams.
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As Savignano explains, this is a big deal for its players and the entire local soccer community.
“Having this licence enables us to field teams in the BCSPL,” said Savignano. “In the past, we had no access to the BCSPL, so players in our community had to leave to go play in another community once they got to that level. But now, we can offer players the chance to play in the BCSPL without leaving the community.”
But Savignano sees getting this licence as only the first step in the club’s five-year strategic plan.
“Now, we have to prepare and start building our first BCSPL team for the 2024 season,” said Savignano. “That includes the continued development of players that are 9, 10, and 11-years-old, who are going to be in that age range to compete in the BCSPL in 2024.”
Locals looking for more information on the Ridge Meadows Soccer Club can find it at https://ridgemeadowssoccer.ca/.
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