At the midway point in the season, Sliammon Junior Braves Soccer Club coach Dave Moon is looking at various fundraising options to ensure that his teams are able to participate in the rest of their season.
The club is comprised of two Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation youth teams: the under 10s and the under 12s. The club, which is a mix of boys and girls, has about 32 committed players who attend regular practices and games.
It does not belong to an organized youth soccer league. Instead the teams enter independent open youth soccer tournaments held by various first nations throughout Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
This spring they opened their season in Victoria and then travelled to Richmond. In May they attended tournaments in Duncan and Vancouver and they are currently training to compete in Campbell River at the end of the month. Sliammon will be hosting its own open tournament on July 13.
“We go to tournaments as much as possible,” said Moon, “but I’m realizing that we’re going to have to fundraise year-round.”
The team has been to four tournaments this year and the coach is hoping to attend three more.
Moon said that he’s currently organizing a penny drive to say farewell to the no longer printed copper coin.
“We’re going to help them on their way out and collect the last of them,” he said.
Over the past three years Moon has organized bottle drives to help pay for tournament entry fees, but he is pursuing other ideas, like raffles, 50/50 tickets and a future gala dinner to help raise money for the team.
The Junior Braves’ season runs from April to August and Moon said that he hopes to take his teams to North Vancouver for their season windup.
Like all other youth-oriented sports in the Powell River area, taking players to soccer tournaments is expensive when factoring in the costs for ferries, hotels and “a little fast food.”
Not all parents have the same amount of resources, so Moon said the fundraising helps pay entry fees and buy the teams water and fruit.
He receives some funding from Tla’amin Community Health Services Board and Tla’amin band and council, “but it’s limited and helps to pay a small percentage of our yearly tour costs.”
The club is currently looking for sponsors and community support with its fundraising. It has a bank account at CIBC for anybody wishing to support the teams by making a cash donation.
