Outdoor 2022 Registration starts March 14th

This is going out to our master list of recipients, and not just the indoor clan, because…

Registration for the regular outdoor season starts Monday, March 14

We’re actually planning for a full 18-game, Saturday-morning outdoor season in 2022 (at Shefford-Potvin fields as usual), with opening day slated for May 28, that is, the Saturday following the Victoria Day long weekend and the official reopening of Ray Martel’s garden shed. Please wait until the afternoon of March 14, 2022 to register https://ba-soccer.ca/ , as treasurer Brian Garson likes to sleep in a bit on Mondays. We don’t know if COVID health checks will still be needed before each game, so we’ll have to get back to you. That said, if health checks are  dropped, we may replace them with spots checks of our defibrillator’s functionality on those of you looking like you were out way too late Friday night.

Fee (includes occasional dog poop, frequent wastewater odours and regular crater-filled parking at the field)

• $210 (outfielders)
• $100 (keepers)
• $25 (spares, and $15 per game after)

Remember that you have to both complete the form AND pay your fee to secure a spot. No payment, no playment.

Remember as well that the BASL always reserves the right to screen registrations and to accept only those from players it feels embody its focus on camaraderie, commitment and courtesy.

About recruiting buddies to the league

Limit yourself to one per season, and please vet strictly for attitude.

Don’t get us wrong: we’re proud that you might want as many as your friends as  possible to join the BA, but the way we assemble teams limits the number of “new friends” we can allow to congregate on the same roster. After discussion at the exec level, we therefore ask that you recruit no more than one person per season to join you for your BASL pilgrimage. In exchange, we’ll make sure you and your “chosen one” get to play together during his first two seasons in the league.

As well, your recruit can’t in turn bring in someone himself for his two first seasons, and so on and so on… as that would amount to almost creating one’s own team, or nucleus of a team,  which we’ve never allowed. It runs counter to the BA’s DNA.

Finally, be sure you can truly vouch for the attitude and behaviour of the person you want to bring into the fold (and want to subject to our twisted sense of humour). Not only is your buddy  automatically on probation for his two first seasons in the league, but you also will be held accountable for his demeanour week after week after week.

2022 pre-season outdoor workouts/kickabouts, anyone?

For a nominal fee based on the number of keeners who sign up, we hope to offer you 90-minute pre-season workouts/kickabouts this spring at the new state-of-the-art Julian De Guzman Park  on Farmer’s Way in Gloucester, operated by BA veterans and sponsors Ron Palaczka and Jon Paradis. The start date would be as close as possible to the final snow melt. If we’re able to train in April, we’ll of course avoid indoor-league Thursday nights to start. Apologies in advance to anyone and everyone whose schedule clashes with the bookings we manage to secure.

We did this “training” thing informally several years back in the dome, with activities and small-sided games catering to keepers and outfielders alike; after everyone overcame the dry heaves from overexertion and we explained the concept of concentration, we had a blast. The idea is to give you a bit of cardio along with a zillion touches more than you’d get during a regular game. At the same time, we’d be supporting Ron and Jon in their new venture and could actually combine one of the sessions with our SAGM on location at the German Club right after and  encourage them as well. Win-Win-Win.

NEEDED: Experienced “coaches” willing to plan and run an  activity “station” during the training part of these sessions. Please contact Ray rjmartel@rogers.com  if you can volunteer your time, knowledge… and willingness to repeat instructions six times :). Merci!

We’ll be back to you with dates, times and sign-up info later this month. Spots will be limited; so here again, first come, first served, first winded.

Cleats and shin guards needed for kids and young adults in Jamaica

Denis Levesque of Team Urine Trouble (yellow… surprise, surprise) will be accepting donations of gently used cleats and shin guards this Thursday night, March 10, for a coach working with underprivileged youth in Jamaica. If you have some of these items sleeping on a shelf, feel free to bring them to Denis on field 2 either before or after his 8 p.m. fixture. Merci à l’avance!