(Submitted)

The Drumheller Minor Soccer Club is getting ready to kick off their indoor soccer season. 

The season, which will begin October 23 and run until March 18, will feature teams in age groups from under six to under 16. 

Marnee Chapin, Treasurer/Secretary/Fundraising coordinator for the Drumheller Minor Soccer Club said the club has the Badlands Community Facility (BCF) field house booked from 6-9 p.m. every Friday with the exception of a two week break over the Christmas holidays when there will be no soccer on December 25 and January 1. 

“This year we are trying a new format. We are trying a 3 on 3 format so it will be a smaller playing field. It has worked well in the past,” Chapin said. 

Chapin told inSide Drumheller that within the Big Country Soccer Association, Drumheller is the only town with indoor soccer so for the most part Drumheller teams play each other. She explained though, that Three Hills has shown an interest in wanting to play games and has come in the past. 

“This year we want to try and focus on getting in touch with them earlier in the season to see what they have for age groups, because all the other communities are depending on the school gyms. They don’t have a facility like we do, so usually if we can arrange in advance a game, they would be jumping on the chance to do that because we have the facility, so it is just a matter of trying to coordinate it,” she said. 

She said it is nice to have the BCF fieldhouse to play in so that the club is not worried about various school events and not having access to the school gym. She said the club tries to encourage other teams from within the Big Country Soccer Association to come to Drumheller to play. 

Chapin said the opportunity to have an indoor soccer club in Drumheller is great because it gives, “potential for (the players) to work on their skills. It is a different game indoors but they are able to work on (them). It is a little bit faster pace than outdoor.”

The club will run a 15 minute drill practice at the beginning of each Friday night session, she said, and then will begin with the new game format. 

Loblaw says it has no immediate plans for the former Fred and Barney’s Restaurant now that the building has been demolished.

The Sun Valley Plaza, at the base of the South Hill, has housed a number of businesses over the years, most notably Fred and Barney’s and Reptile World, before it moved to its final site in downtown Drumheller. Many have fond memories of the location, however over the last few years it had become noticeably run down. 

Last week Alex Excavating was on site to demolish the building.

Loblaw, the same company that owns Extra Foods, Superstore and a number of other grocery brands, currently owns the property. They were prompted to demolish the mini mall.

“The building was vacant and in a state of disrepair so we chose to remove it,” a statement from the company reads.

As to local speculation, many rumors have pegged the site for many uses, including the development of a Loblaw liquor store. The company did not confirm any such future use.

“We have no immediate plans for the property.” reads a statement from Loblaw.