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The BA Soccer League: recreational, non-profit, volunteer-run… and tons of fun

The BASL provides adult men with the opportunity to play indoor and outdoor soccer in a safe, pleasant and respectful environment, on quality pitches and under stable, transparent, consultative management.

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SAGM in early May / News tidbits (really, they’re fun!) / Capping off the season in style

By raymartel | Apr 6, 2022

March SAGM coming in… May

As you might recall from our last missive, we decided to postpone our usual March 2022 SAGM to the early spring, in the hope of holding it post-Covid (ok, stupid wish there) and, perhaps, in tandem with a preseason kickabout. Come the week of April 18 and the passing of the Easter Bunny, you can expect an invitation to both the SAGM and a hopefully not-too-painful mini-series of workouts at the new Julian DeGuzman Field; Mondays early evening, as of April 25, appear to be the best slots offered for now—TO BE CONFIRMED, however. Please respond to the invitation promptly if you intend to join us both for the footie and for the fandango at the SAGM after.


News Tidbits

  • Only four spots full-time spots left for Outdoor 2022: All keepers have been recruited (coerced), with one in the body shop for major repairs, however.
  • Our managers for Outdoor 2022: Ryan Zurawell, Mark Meng, Chris Bradley, Tom Borbely, Eben Crofton, Alex Martel. Merci beaucoup, Messieurs. Ass’t managers to be announced after the teams are assembled and police checks are completed.
  • Cards issued to date for the Indoor Season: (two of which are to one player, who’s been forced to attend Question Period in the House of Commons for the next month)
  • Three new Father-Son duos in 2022: Hats off to Chris BradleyTroy Morris and John Wilson, whose sons will be joining them on the pitch for the first time this summer.
  • SAGM documents coming the week of April 18: Agenda, Sept. 2021 minutes, financial statement, positions up for election, by-law amendments, V-P Romeo Pantalone’s summer travel plans, etc. will be delivered with the next BA Update.
  • BA Executive meeting and pyjama party April 13: If you want us to discuss a topic or proposal for you, send an email to rjmartel@rogers.com.

Last regular-season game for Indoor tomorrow

Let’s keep it pleasant, peaceful and odour-free out there, lads, as we say so long to the regular campaign tomorrow and get ready for the Investors Indoor Cup (three-game round robin, plus a final for two lucky contenders) starting April 14 and ending May 5. Remember, to respect your teammates, respect your opponents and respect your officials is to respect yourself.

Here’s to your being able to enjoy your fixtures without having to change any lightbulbs. J

Outdoor 2022 Registration starts March 14th

By raymartel | Mar 9, 2022
Fellow footballers,
Co-fervents du foot,We apologize for the delay in sending this new issue of the BA Update: supply-chain problems, lack of staff, freezing rain and renovations are to
blame.

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!

Guys, this is a frenzied time of year operationally as we tend to details for both the indoor and outdoor seasons, so apologies if your emails or texts don’t get answered in a flash. We’re not ignoring you, just making you wait in line a bit more, like for rapid antigen tests.
Your BA executive 

Back to the pitch on February 3rd

By raymartel | Jan 26, 2022

Back to the pitch on February 3rd:

Thanks to everyone who completed our flash survey (104 replies). We also got some delightful comments, for instance:

I would play in a Dome, I would play with Rome. I would play in BA, I would play any day. / Two vacs and booster in me… put me in coach! / Play soccer. Make the world a happier, less angry place. / Cool new logo! / Thank you admin team for all of your work to get us playing. / Please ensure the beer after the game is cold. Very important. / Just play already, I’m getting fat.

The verdict is an overwhelming thumbs-up for resuming play next Thursday, with most other gents willing to return perhaps two or three weeks later. A few details:

  • The Dec. 23 and Jan. 6, 13, 20 and 27 games have vaporized into the Omicron void. So we simply pick up normal play as of February 3, with each team having seven games and, as mentioned by someone above, extra pounds under its belt: BASL standings.
  • Full, regular league play resumes, that is, points, standings, refs, dry heaves and all. We might add a week or two in May if time and circumstances allow.
  • Teams whose full roster isn’t returning will, as much as possible, either have spares of equal caliber assigned to them until their regular players return, or have access to horse steroids.
  • The dome will operate at 50% capacity (like before the shutdown), and the same public-health measures apply, including proof of vaccination with a QR code.
  • About booster shots: If the province ultimately makes them mandatory, the dome will have no choice but to abide by that. If you’re comfortable with a booster shot, but haven’t yet got it, perhaps now is the time to act, just in case…
  • Expect a reminder from TeamSnap Sunday or Monday to a) enter all your availabilities in advance and b) put on a particulate mask before re-opening your soccer bag.

Please take it easy on the pitch:

If you’re like most of us, your exercise regimen since the shutdown has been reduced to bringing wine over to your neighbours as thanks for snowblowing your driveway and to walking to your community mailbox (ok, granted, some of you do that at a brisk pace to remain game-ready). For everyone’s sake and safety, we urge all of you to keep it down a notch as we reacquaint ourselves with kicking a ball and playing in the “romantic candlelight” of the dome:

  • NO heavy contact
  • NO “full steam ahead” on 50-50 balls
  • NO blind-side or desperate from-behind tackles
  • NO chest-puffing and nostril-flaring if an “accident” does occur; keep cool, make amends 
  • NO nagging at the refs: we’ve again told them to call things very tight.

Safety first. Camaraderie always. J

Outdoor season for 2022:

Just to refresh your memory, outdoor registrations usually start in mid-March (fees to be determined), so please stay tuned for that announcement. We’re aiming for six teams of 17 zombies for the outfield and one crash-test dummy in goal. If society is generally allowed to crawl out from under its rock come the spring, we may be able to start the outdoor season in late May, after the Victoria Day long weekend. Anyway, our usual Potvin-Shefford fields are booked, our refs are lined up, our team sweaters are washed and disinfected, and our team kits and first-aid necessities (read: Scotch, Rub A-535 and smelling salts) are replenished. Sidebar details on sponsorship, possible alternate fields, Founders’ Cup format, renting porta-potties or peeing in the reeds by the sewage plant?, etc. should be settled by April as well.

Semi-annual general meeting and liquidation sale (executive and other positions available at clearance prices):

For expediency’s sake during what felt like the 27th Covid wave, the March 2021 SAGM was simply cancelled, and all terms of office extended one year. Now, given the renewed uncertainty of being able to gather enough of us indoors, we’ll likely push the 2022 event back to late April or even early May, in the hope we can meet either on a terrace or, by that point, in a large, well-ventilated indoor venue with a well-stocked bar. Please bear with us as we try to figure this out and get all of the agenda items ready.

Support our 2021-22 restaurant sponsors:

We encourage you to order take-out from or, if you feel comfortable next week, visit The Bad Alibi (indoor 2021-22) and the Blackburn Arms Pub (outdoor 2021). And perhaps you’d like to order some sensational suds from our friends at the Whitewater Brewing Company (plentiful beer and door prizes in summer 2021). Let’s help them get their engines revving again despite things only s-l-o-w-l-y opening up (like a clam on Valium).

Enjoy your return to the field. Be safe out there and everywhere. Another Update will rattle your inbox in a week to 10 days.

Your BA executive and defenders of the soccer universe

Summer 2024 Registration

Saturdays: May 18th - Oct 26th

  • Shefford Park (Potvin)
  • 11v11 format
  • 10am Kickoff
  • $230 outfielders, $125 Keepers, $25 spares
  • 6 teams
  • 114 outfielders, 6 keepers

Wednesdays: May 22nd - Oct 30th

  • Julian de Guzman Park
  • 9v9 format
  • 8:30pm and 9:40pm Kickoff
  • $285 outfielders, $150 Keepers, $25 spares
  • 8 teams
  • 112 outfielders, 8 keepers

Sponsors