About our Program Past and Present
History of Soccer in Fort Saskatchewan
By 1974, Fort Saskatchewan Minor Outdoor soccer was formed and was one of the two sports to be governed under FSMSA. It wasn't until 1996 that Fort Saskatchewan Indoor Minor Soccer was established. At this time Players had practices in Gymnasiums such as the old Jail gym. There were two facilities that games were held at in Edmonton one south location and one west location. By December 2013, Fort Saskatchewan Outdoor Soccer and Fort Saskatchewan Indoor Soccer. The two boards decided to amalgamate into one soccer organization for the benefit of all players. - Fort Saskatchewan Soccer. The one organization grew so much over the years but still had multiple identities as each team had their own name. In 2017, Fort Saskatchewan Soccer Executive Committee made the decision that Fort Saskatchewan needed one unified name to tie all teams together. Our U9-U19 teams are Fort Saskatchewan Arsenal and our U5- U7 In-house program is called Junior Arsenal. We ran a month-long contest and welcomed Fort Saskatchewan Soccer members to put in their idea for a name. During an executive committee meeting the name was chosen out of 25 different names. It was chosen to honor the 1875 NWMP Fort which is part of Fort Saskatchewan's heritage.
Fort Saskatchewan Soccer Today
Fort Saskatchewan Soccer sees approximately 900 players enrolled yearly between the Indoor and Outdoor seasons. Fort Saskatchewan soccer has one Paid fulltime Admin. The executive committee is made up of 10 spots, which are all volunteers. It takes between 60-80 coaches a season to run the program and hundreds of other volunteers behind the scenes to help. Without people stepping up to give up their personal time and volunteering, soccer in Fort Saskatchewan would not be a success.
For the 2024 outdoor season we had approximately 165 Junior Arsenal Players, 19 Arsenal Community teams, and 2 club teams. In 2024-2025 Indoor season we had 18 community teams and 3 club teams and 65 Junior Arsenal players. We have implemented fall training camps, spring training Camps, summer camps. Our club program has been set up and is taking shape. We Have partnered with Lonestar Institute to help us do that. They provide coach training and academy sessions to our club players. Lonestar is also helping us with coach education and training with the U7 Junior Arsenal program. We are using the Grassroots Alberta Soccer Association training for our U5 -U7. Alberta Soccer believes teaching fundamental soccer skills at an early age is paramount for players’ soccer development. The 1 hour is broken down into 4 stations. These 4 stations are drills set around Soccer Technique, coordination, general movement and small side games. Alberta believes the more a player touches a soccer ball the more confident the player will become the grassroots program is set around this idea.
Fall, spring, and summer training camps are open for all our U7 - U19 players. We have all Arsenal players on one field doing the same drills and you can see Fort Saskatchewan Arsenal come together as one. The older players mentor and help the younger players. The camps usually go once a week for two- three hours long and Lonestar Institute comes out to facilitate the camps with some of our coaches.
We have played drop-in soccer times as well where a player just comes and drops in and plays a game of soccer with and against other Arsenal players. This usually happen twice a year and it's crazy, chaotic, but so much fun. The players have a blast.
We hold a couple of special events such as the Testimonial game, this is a fun celebration of soccer. It usually runs on a Saturday evening in March and selected U9- U19 players play. There are three games divided by age levels. The highlight is when the coaches take to the field in the last game. We have 50/50’s, give-a-ways, raffle-off baskets, door prizes, player of the game awards, etc. All families are encouraged to attend and bring a food bank item and cheer on the players.
We also hold an Arsenal Jamboree. Each team from U5- U11 plays two games of soccer. We have bouncy castles, concessions, facepainting, and other fun games. The cost of the bouncy castles and a concession offset the costs of the day’s events.
We also have a float in the July 1st parade and Santa Claus parade.
Our goal is to provide a close community on and off the soccer field!
