It’s time to let our kids play soccer, says youth organizer
I run a private youth soccer league and a soccer charity for girls. The pandemic has obviously delayed our programs until we can step on the field again to play. As restrictions are starting to lift for many businesses, we are excited to offer programs and camps that will follow all the well-intentioned guidelines established by Health Minister Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry.
However, as I see many close-contact businesses such as gyms, kick-boxing studios, massage parlours, barber shops and tattoo salons opening up to the public, there is no indication as to when sports associations that need field permits from the city will be allowed to play. There are many businesses and coaches out of work. We need to be executing our projects as well to offer our service to children who are begging for an active and social outlet and parents who need a break.
Most media attention has been given to restaurants, bars and the service industry, but our industry does not have the same personalized persuasion and power to fight for our businesses, and we have been left without any answers about our future.
We are fortunate that the government has spent months creating the best safety protocols for the start-up phase, but now facilities like basketball and volleyball courts are open for anyone to play at without any monitoring of the guidelines.
Meanwhile, we are left waiting in limbo without a timeline to get on the fields.
In fact, cities like Vancouver have laid off 1,700 workers, including the staff who actually do the field bookings, so there is no chance for us to even apply for fields until mid-June.
Nonetheless, the local community centres are planning day camps for the summer so they have access to the fields while other organizations are blocked out. Imagine the scenario if only government-run liquor stores were allowed to open and private businesses were told to wait.
Like any business, we need to schedule programs, organize coaches and alert participants who have credit moving forward, but it likely will take weeks after we apply for field locations and times to be confirmed.
This needs to improve for the livelihood of so many. I believe this issue has fallen through the cracks. There are many fun and safe fitness activities that we can organize.