LITTLE CURRENT – On Sunday, May 26, Low Island Park was packed with cars and kids. Families were drawn to the park for soccer, but there was a lot more going on than the games. Island service providers were networking and screening and no, it had nothing to do with internet providers and screen time.
“It’s a Family Fun Screen Day,” said Patricia Hurst, “Manitoulin Service Providers Network gets together and covers services for children ages 0 to six years of age, so there’s a variety of businesses out today,” she explained. She and others shared a booth that combined Mnaamodzowin Health Services, Early On, and Manitoulin Family Services, and they were offering, in addition to car seat safety tips, freezies and fruit and lots of swag. There was also a draw on offer for a chance to win one of three bicycles.
A major component to the ‘fun day’ was the soccer that was taking place from early morning until late in the afternoon. The NEMI Soccer Club was hosting, with 34 teams registered and over 300 kids taking part in this, their second annual Island Wide Tournament.
“Last year,” Michelle Anderson explained, “the screening day happened on the same day as our tournament, so someone reached out to us and said, ‘is there any way we can do this together?’ So then, when we were planning our tournament, we reached back out to them.” That’s how the two groups coordinated to become one event. The network of services provided developmental screening and safety tips to families in between the games. The OPP and UCCM were running bike clinics, in addition to other safety components available to the public. In addition, the Little Current Lions Club was running a barbecue for soccer players and their families.
The NEMI Soccer Club has a small army of coaches, including parent volunteers and grade eight students who are earning their volunteer hours; the total comes to about 40 in all. Michelle Anderson is a coach and major part of the organizational team for the tournament.
Alison Dodge, who is one of the coaches for her daughter’s team said, “It’s all about fun. There’s no keeping score, it’s just about the fun. We do have a weekly practice in addition to our games,” she added, “so, we’re going to take all of what we did in these three games today and talk about what we want to work on.”
The parking lot and the roadway to the venue were full of cars, the soccer fields spilled over with athletes and families set up chairs in the grass and had picnics. None of the games from the smallest to the biggest kept score at the tournament, because it was, as Ms. Dodge said, all about having fun – it was a day of fun for the whole family.
