Summer Soccer season kicks off Saturday in Iroquois

Players from Team Northern Ireland (green) and Ukraine (yellow) challenge for the ball during their Tim Hortons TimBits U-7 League play in 2023. (File photo)

IROQUOIS – Six leagues, 36 teams, over 400 players, all will descend on Iroquois weekly starting this Saturday. South Dundas United (formerly the South Dundas Soccer Association) will kick off its 28th Summer Soccer season May 18 at the soccer fields.

“I believe it’s going to be a great season, “ said club president Phil Blancher. “There is a great group of volunteer coaches this season, and lots of community support for the programming at SDUFC.”
Soccer action begins this Saturday with a training day for all teams. The nine-week regular season will begin the following week on May 25.

Blancher explained the overall program has expanded by a week to accommodate the training day.

“In past seasons the first day was extremely busy with handing out uniforms, coaches meeting players, getting a first practice in, and a game,” he said. “By adding that additional week into things, it gives teams a chance to begin to work together and for coaches to get to know the players they are coaching.”

The soccer club is running six leagues this season, Under-5, U-7, U-9, U-11, U-14, and U-18. SDUFC has two season sponsors, Tim Hortons’ TimBITS sports program for the U-5 to U-9 leagues; and BMO for the U-11 to U-18 leagues.

Additionally, the club has four gold sponsors (Home Hardware, Landex Earthworks, Canadian Tire, and the Dundas Dairy Producers); and 13 silver sponsors (A+ Property Services, Brokerlink Insurance, Bucket Hat Design, Century 21 – Rivers Edge Realty – Chris Wiltshire, Cochrane Construction, Emard Bros. Lumber, Hunter Jones Designs, Jansen Engineering Services, Laura’s Valu-Mart, Mullin Excavating, Northern Latitudes, Smail Accounting Services, and Sports Fix.)

“The sponsorship program really helps keep the costs down to families,” Blancher said. “Most other clubs in the region charge more than double what our player fees are. It’s a credit to those businesses to support affordable sports programming in the community.”

The 2024 Summer Leagues run from May 18 through to July 20, with the 18th annual World Cup tournament weekend running July 26-27 to close out the summer season.

SDUFC’s summer league is the largest and longest-running of three soccer programs operated by the organization.

The club will also run its Fall Soccer Leagues from early September to late October, and its winter Futsal league that runs from late November to early March the following year. While registration is closed for the Summer Leagues, it remains open for the Fall and Winter leagues.

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