Irricana will be looking like soccer central on Saturday as the local footy club hosts hundreds of visitors and a soccer festival for the ages.
After introducing the local soccer festival in 2022, the Irricana Beiseker Soccer Association (IBSA) is excited to bring the event back bigger and better than last year on June 17 to the grassy pitches of Irricana.
Sarah Crain, a coach of the IBSA's U9 team and a festival coordinator, said this year's event – which she likened to a non-competitive tournament – will feature 21 teams from throughout the region.
The teams will range from U5 to U11, and will collectively play 26 games throughout the day.
"We’re calling it a festival because it’s’ not competitive and there are a lot of younger kids," Crain said. "It’s more just a fun day for the kids to play against each other, but there are no final standings at the end."
Crain added the more than 250 little Lionel Messis and Christine Sinclairs will arrive in Irricana from near and far, including Chestermere, Carstairs, Didsbury, Drumheller, and Hanna.
Last year's soccer festival in Irricana featured just seven teams, according to Crain. She said it's a testament to the success of that event that virtually all those teams wanted to come back this year, and their rave reviews were enough to encourage other soccer associations in the region to be interested as well.
“It’s a ton of work to put something like this together, but I think we’ve got some really good volunteers,” she said.
“We really took a hit during COVID. We didn’t have soccer for two years and we’ve really had to build it back up.”
With the games getting going tomorrow morning and lasting throughout the day, Crain said she wanted to thank the event's multiple sponsors, including but not limited to: Davis Chevrolet, Allen and Sons Auto Recyclers, Mullan Roofing, Crossfield Fitness, NERSA Viterra, Irricana Ladies Club, and Integra Tire (Phils Auto). The Beiseker Lions Club, and the Irricana Lions Club, who will also be putting on a barbecue in the afternoon, are also sponsors.
After the games have wrapped up, medal ceremonies for each age group will take place starting at 1:40 p.m.
There's also a 50-50 draw taking place at 1 p.m. at the concession stand. Crain noted that only adults are able to participate, and the IBSA will receive the other 50 per cent of the proceeds.
Crain said she encourages local soccer fans in northeast Rocky View County to come to Irricana on Saturday to check out the soccer skills on display.
“We’re going to almost double the population of Irricana for the day,” she said.
