A local women's soccer league with three local teams and one team from Weyburn is going through their playoffs this week.
The league, which was originally formed 35 years ago and is run by volunteer executive members, has continued through the 2011 flood and keeps on surviving. The women play at the Woodlawn Soccer Field.
“Tanya (Gervais) calls a meeting at the beginning of each season and we just go from there,” said Jaguars manager Susan Bath in an email. Bath credits Gervais with the running of the league. “Sigfredo Gonzalez has also been involved in the league over the years, sitting on the executive with special interest in field maintenance. We were able to continue the season after the 2011 flood of our field by moving the games to the high school field for the year.”
the first team Bath joined in 1982 was called the Carliners – a team now called the Jaguars – and although they didn't win a game that year, she said she still had fun.
“The second year we won the championship,” she emailed. “I took a few years off to coach youth soccer and manage youth provincial teams but came back to manage and play for the Jaguars.”
The league, which is a recreational league, is affiliated with the Saskatchewan Soccer Association and they attend provincials each year. There have been between three to five teams throughout the league's existence and they added the Weyburn team a few years ago to help provide better competition and even out the schedules. The Estevan teams travel to Weyburn a couple of times a year for games. The league final is scheduled for Aug. 23.
It's been a struggle at times to keep interest from waning.
“The men's league has been struggling for years and for the past few years, have run drop-in games every Tuesday and Thursday – dividing up into two teams and playing scrimmages,” Bath e-mailed.
Last year, Bath said she organized a team from the players in the league to enter into a recreational tournament in Saskatoon. “We came home with second place,” she emailed.
“This year, the men will have a team in the provincial championships in Saskatoon Aug. 18-19. We were not able to get a commitment from enough ladies to enter provincials this year but hopefully will be able to find a tournament to go to in September again.”
There was an indoor league in the past but there has not been one in the most recent years.
To join in the future, Bath suggests emailing Gervais at [email protected], or join their Facebook page.
