General Information about Li'l Sambas Winter Programs
Hi everyone,
This email is the general information about location, uniform pickup etc. that you may need. We will send a second email later confirming any information that is particular to each age group and your time-slots (either 10:30 am or 11:15 am).
The programs begin on SATURDAY November 30th at Ottawa University's LEES DOME.
General Information for all sessions and age-groups
If you are continuing from the previous session most of this will be familiar to you, and you can probably skip the remainder of this e-mail.
The sessions will be on the indoor turf field at the University of Ottawa Lees Dome on the Lees Campus of Ottawa U.
The entrance to the Lees Campus is directly opposite the LEES O-train Station on Lees Avenue. Once you turn onto the campus, follow the road. The parking is on the left and the dome is slightly further on the same road - you can't miss it!
Uottawa GeeGees Field
Note: The University of Ottawa has two campuses and two turf fields. Make sure you are heading for the Lees Dome or GeeGees Field on the LEES Campus, not Matt Anthony Field on the MAIN Campus.
Parking Lot G3 is where you should park and is on your left just after you enter campus. That is the parking for the dome and the dome itself is straight ahead on the same road. Parking passes will be handed out to you on the first day. We will have them just inside the doors at the dome.
A parent must be on the field with their kids at all times for the Wee Copas program.
For all other age groups, parents are welcome to watch from the sidelines. Masks are not currently mandated within the dome.
If you already have your uniform from one of our earlier sessions, you are good to go.
If this is your first time in the program and you have purchased a uniform, the uniform consists of shirt, shorts and socks and you will be able to try the sizes against your child to get the best fit. We have a wide range of sizes available.
Uniform Pickup: You can pick up your uniform at the field any time from 30 minutes before your first session. You will be able to try the sizes against your little one to make sure you get the right size.
If you are registered for the House League, you will need to pick up the pinnie with your team colour for this season, even if you already have the blue Li'l Sambas uniform.
You should purchase shin-guards for your little ones if they don't have them already.
If they already have soccer cleats, or you want to purchase them, great. However, if they don't have them, they will be absolutely fine with their regular running shoes or tennis shoes too.
Other than that, all they need are the basic things you would need for any program: a water bottle (prefilled), a sweater if you think they will be cold etc
We look forward to meeting you this weekend,
The Li'l Sambas Team
We are exactly two weeks from the start of our winter indoor programs at Ottawa University's Lees Dome! Our Jabulanis program for 1st and 2nd graders has sold out more quickly than we anticipated but we still have a few spaces remaining in our other age groups.
Due to the indoor domes' availability, we are not able to offer as many options for multiple days, times, and age groups as the outdoor programs. However, we still have a wide range of options available on Saturdays. This winter we will have our popular development programs, girls-only sections in the development programs, and our house league available. The table below shows what is available for each age group and links to the registration page for each one.
All of the programs and leagues take place on Saturday mornings at Ottawa University's Lees Dome (200 Lees Avenue - 5 mins from Immaculata HS) and run from November 30th through until February 1st.
Apologies again for the postponement of last Saturday's Li'l Sambas session. It's a real shame that we had to postpone the final week of the season, but the power failure was obviously something that was out of our control.
We cannot find a suitable slot inside at any dome at the right time anywhere in November, so we are going to hold the make-up session for the postponed week THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9th at IMMACULATA at the usual 9:00am and 9:45am times.
SATURDAY 9th of November at IMMACULATA
We expect the numbers may be a little lower than usual, so if you want to come for both times and have them play for 90-minutes, you are more than welcome to bring them to both.
As you know, Immaculata is OUTDOORS. It's been a nice spell of weather this week with temperatures hitting 20 today and it will stay nice and dry into the weekend. Unfortunately, it looks like the temperatures will have dropped into the single digits on Saturday so wrap up warm! You don't need to worry about uniform or shorts if your kid(s) will be happier in a jacket or long pants. Wear whatever makes them comfortable!
Take care and we will see you all this weekend!
p.s. Don't forget that registration is open for our Winter session which is just over 2-weeks away - https://ottawa.lilsambassoccer.com/upcomingLeagues/lil-sambas-winter-ages-312-saturdays-season1-soccer/1479 for the mixed program and https://ottawa.lilsambassoccer.com/upcomingLeagues/lil-sambas-winter-girls-program-ages-612-saturdays-season1-soccer/1485 for the girls program.
The power is still out at the dome and today's development sessions at 9.15am and 10am have been cancelled.
The sessions will be rearranged for a later date which will be confirmed on Monday or Tuesday.
We expect power to be restored later this morning and Sunday's House League games to go ahead as normal.
Apologies for the inconvenience
Don't forget that we have a change of venue for Li'l Sambas on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for the remainder of this season.
ALL OF THE REMAINING WEEKS ARE AT THE RA CENTRE DOME (INDOORS) NOT AT IMMACULATA
The RA Centre is less than 10 minutes drive from Immaculata: go straight down Main Street and turn onto Riverside Drive (south). The RA Centre is on Riverside Drive just beyond Bank Street. The soccer dome is the large white dome between the baseball diamonds. Map from Immaculata to RA Centre.
Remaining Schedule for Fall:
Registration is now open for our early winter programs which begin at the end of November at the University of Ottawa's Lees Dome (5 minutes from Immaculata HS)
The game dates for our Early Winter Program are: November 30th, December 7th, 14th, 21st, January 11th, 18th, 25th & February 1st
We will have a 2-week break during the schools' Christmas Holidays (December 28th and January 4th)
All programs take place at Ottawa University's Lees Dome.
Unfortunately, we have far less field time indoors in winter than outdoors in summer, so we can only offer a limited number of programs, at more limited times and all programs are on Saturdays. If you are currently in the fall program the equivalent program in winter would be:
Development Sessions:
Girls Development Sessions:
House League
Add-on the house league for less than half-price: If your child wants to play in both the Development Program and the House League on Saturdays, you can add on the house league for less than half of the standard price (only $90) if you add it at the time of registration. Just register for any Saturday Developmental programs and select "House League Add-On" when checking out and you will automatically only be charged $90 for the house league. Please note: the house league is only available for elementary school grades 1 to 5 during the winter seasons.
The development programs and house league games are both on Saturday mornings. If your child is registered for both the house league and development programs, they will be played back to back over 90-minutes, from 10.30am until 11.15am (a 45-minute development session and a 45-minute house league session).
Registration is now available for our Fall Development Programs, Girls Only Development programs, House League and Girls Only House League.
Our fall programs give you the best of both worlds - we take advantage of the perfect September soccer weather outdoors at Immaculata High School Turf Field (140 Main Street) until Thanksgiving and when the weather starts to get a little chilly, we move indoors to the RA Centre Dome (2451 Riverside Drive) until early November.
If your child wants to play in both the Development Program (Friday or Saturday) and the House League on Sundays, you can add on the House League for half of the price (only $80 each season) if you add it at the time of registration. Just register for any Friday or Saturday Developmental programs and select "House League Add-On" when checking out and you will automatically only be charged $80 for each season of the house league. Please note, the house league is only available for Grades 1 to 7.
We offer girls-only programs and house leagues. The girls' developmental programs kicked off in Spring 2024, and the Girls House League in Summer 2024
The design of the sessions, drills, and skill development will be the same as the regular L'il Sambas program. The difference for the girls enrolled in the girls program will be that their sections will be all girls and they will be coached by female coaches. Girls are still welcome to register for any of our mixed programs too.
Day, Times and Age Groups for the Girls Development Programs - Fall 2024
Our winter indoor programs and house leagues will begin in the last week of November at Ottawa University's Lees Dome. Full details and registration will be online in September.
General Information about Li'l Sambas Summer Programs
The programs begin on Friday 5th, Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of July
If you are continuing from the current session most of this will be familiar to you, and you can probably skip the remainder of this e-mail.
Parking
There is loads of free parking at the school. There are spaces immediately on your right-hand side as you turn into the school grounds and a large car park at the top of the small incline beside the field and two other huge lots behind the school,
You may not park or wait on the access road between the entrance and the main car park as this causes congestion and creates a safety issue by blocking the view of other drivers at a time when there are a lot of kids and parents coming in and out. Any parents continually infringing this will be asked to leave the program
Location
The location is the field at Immaculata High School, 140 Main Street click here for map etc.
Washrooms are available, they are inside the school and can be accessed from the doors opposite the gate at the middle of the field. Once inside the building, they are to your right (down the stairs/ramp)
If you are driving the only access to the car parks is from Main Street (the entrance is next to the Subway sandwich shop). Please remember that Main Street has a well-used cycle lane that runs alongside it - please be careful as you enter or exit the school and do an extra shoulder check for cyclists. There is no vehicle access from the Echo Drive/canal side of the school, but you can walk or cycle onto the campus from there.
Uniform
Uniform Pickup - You will be able to pick up your uniform at the first session. Please allow 20 minutes prior to your session.
Equipment
Other than that, all they need are the basic things you would need for any program: a water bottle (prefilled), sweater or sun hat and sunscreen as required.
Our Li'l Sambas summer soccer programs and camps are kicking off this weekend. This is your last chance to register for our Development Programs, House Leagues, Girls Only Programs (see below for details of our free house league spaces for girls offer) and our summer day-camps.
Our programs, leagues and camps beginning this week:
Don't forget: if you register for any of our Friday or Saturday Development programs, you can add the Sunday house league for half of the normal price when registering.
Other Available Weeks Camps:
The launch of our development program for girls was a huge success this session with over 50 girls joining us this past season. We received a lot of positive feedback about the girls program from many parents, and it will continue during the summer session.
Although some girls thrived (and continue to thrive) in the coed sessions and leagues, there are others that had a much better time when working in groups that contained only girls. We hope to be able to replicate that experience in the house leagues, but need to get enough girls registered for the Sunday league to allow us to get it off of the ground. For that reason, we have decided to make the SUMMER SUNDAY HOUSE LEAGUE FREE to any girls who are signed up for our Friday or Saturday development summer sessions.
Anyone who signs up their daughter for the Friday or Saturday Summer Development programs can add on the Summer House League on a Sunday for free at registration.
If you have already signed-up for the development sessions and want to add the league, or switch from the coed to the girls session to take advantage of this, just drop us an e-mail to admin@lilsambassoocer.com
Our Fall programs will begin on September 6/7/8th and run through until November 1/2/3rd. Registration will open in mid-July
General Information about Li'l Sambas Spring Programs
The programs begin on Friday 3rd, Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th of May
This Saturday will be the final week of our winter indoor programs - thank you to all of you who joined us for the winter development program and house league.
We'll have a short break for the next couple of weekends and then kick off our spring outdoor programs at Immaculata at the beginning of May.
Over 600 kids are already registered and ready to kick off in a couple of weeks from now. All of our programs at all age groups at 5.45pm on Fridays are completely sold out but we still have limited spaces available for the following programs:
Looking ahead to July and August, registration is also available for our summer development programs, house league, and our summer day camps. We've got 4 one-week summer camps available at Immaculata in July.
A number of you had been waiting for us to open the registration for our new girls program. Registration is now available and you can find the details here:
https://ottawa.lilsambassoccer.com/about/girls-soccer
The girls programs will follow the same pattern as the regular program, with a similar program and curriculum, and they will be at Immaculata at the same time as the coed program sessions. The difference will be that the group will be entirely made up of girls and will be coached by female coaches.
The days and times for the girls program will be:
Day, Times and Age Groups for the Girls Development Program - Spring 2024
Girls House League (Sundays) - Spring 2024
If you have already signed up for the regular program, and would like to switch to the girls-only section, e-mail ottawa@lilsambassoccer.com and we will transfer you over to the girls program.
Firstly: a quick reminder that LI'l Sambas is ON tomorrow - we have three more weeks of our winter indoor session - March 30th, April 6th and April 13th.
Li'l Sambas Girls Program - New for Spring 2024
The next season of our winter indoor development programs and house league begins in 2 weeks. The session will be on Saturday mornings at the uOttawa Lees Dome on Lees Avenue.
This session will begin on February 10th, take the two weekends of March Break off, and run through until April 13th.
This is the first year that we have been able to offer the house league as well as the development sessions through the winter, and just like summer, if you are registered for the development session, you can add the house league for just $75!
2024 will be our second summer of hosting summer day camps at Immaculata and we'll be expanding from 2 weeks to 4 weeks this year. We'll have summer soccer camps throughout July for grades 2 to 6. You can find the full details and registration here:
Li'l Sambas Summer Camp Notes:
We have had a lot of parents asking when our spring outdoor sessions will begin, and we can confirm that this year's spring session will begin on May 3rd/4th/5th and run for 8 weeks, through until the 21/22/23rd of June.
We are just putting the final touches to the details and we will open registration on the Li'l Sambas website next week.
Update 8.20pm Friday:
Tomorrow's games are still on at 9am and 9,45am. The domes are opening tomorrow across the city so we will be playing as normal.
Of course, things still could change before tomorrow. I will try to send another update in the morning before 8am to make sure you have the latest information on whether the games are still on. As of right now, and unless we send an email to say otherwise, they are on.
Chris
We are monitoring the storm that is forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning.
As of right now, there is no change to the Li'l Sambas schedule and tomorrow's session is still on, but that could change later this evening if the domes close or if travel becomes too difficult.
We will send another email updating you this evening,
The Li'l Dambas Team
Our last session of 2023 is tomorrow (December 16th) before we break for 2 weeks over the holidays.
Our upcoming schedule for the remainder of the current program is:
Happy Holidays everyone
The programs begin next Saturday on SATURDAY DECEMBER 2ND at Ottawa University's LEES DOME.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gee-Gees+Field/@45.4160667,-75.6674827,483m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xb2472a8329738a37!8m2!3d45.4160667!4d-75.665294
Spectating
Uniform Pickup: You can pick up your uniform at the field any time from 20 minutes before your first session. You will be able to try the sizes against your little one to make sure you get the right size.
Parking: Ample free parking is available at the school. Spaces are situated immediately on your right as you enter the school grounds, and a larger parking area is located at the top of the small incline next to the field, with two additional spacious lots behind the school. Please avoid parking or waiting on the access road between the entrance and the main car park, as it can cause congestion and safety concerns.
Location: Our field is located at Immaculata High School, 140 Main Street. You can find a map on our website for your convenience. Washrooms are available inside the school, accessible from the doors opposite the gate in the middle of the field. After Thanksgiving and for the rest of October we will host our sessions INDOOR at RA Centre, 2451 Riverside Dr.
Uniform: If you have previously received a uniform from one of our earlier sessions, you're all set. If this is your first time in the program, our uniform includes a shirt, shorts, and socks. You can try different sizes against your child to ensure the best fit. Uniform pickup will be available at the first session.
Equipment: Please ensure your child has shin guards. Soccer cleats are great if they have them, but regular running or tennis shoes work well too. Additionally, please provide a pre-filled water bottle, a sweater, a sun hat, or a rain jacket weather dependent.
Program Dates: Our programs are set to kick off on the following dates: Friday, September 8th, Saturday, September 9th, and Sunday, September 10th.
Program Verification: To ensure your participation in the correct programs, please log in to our website and click on "My Programs" in the top menu. On mobile devices, simply tap the "Top" button to access the menu. If you believe there is an error in your registration, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Wee Copas (Preschool Age Group): For our Wee Copas program, we kindly request that a parent accompanies their child on the field at all times. Please note, that for Fridays, we only have one session at 5:45 pm
Spectator Guidelines: Except for parents involved in Wee Copas, we kindly request that all other parents and spectators watch the sessions from outside the field during the initial weeks. Your cooperation helps maintain a safe and focused environment on the field.
Hello everyone,
All of our 2023 summer programs start over the next 4 days and it is your last chance to register for any Li'l Sambas Development Program, House League or Summer Camp for July and August 2023. We have limited spaces available in the programs starting this weekend
You can find full details of all of our programs on the Li'l Sambas website. Details and registration for our fall programs, beginning September 2023 will be available later this month,
Have a great summer everyone,
The programs begin on Friday 7th, Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of July
Uniform Pickup - You will be able able to pick up your uniform at the first session.
We wanted to make sure that everyone was aware that last week was the final week of the spring session of our programs, other than the postponed Sunday House league games from last week
We also have our first ever summer day camp coming up over the next two weeks. Each week is a full week of soccer drills, games and practice with the familiar senior coaches from the Futuro Soccer Academy that you know so well from our Friday and Saturday programs.
We have two options to choose from: July 3rd to July 7th - register here - and July 10th to 14th - register here.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone.
We are CANCELLING today's house league games due to rapidly worsening air quality. Although the measured air quality was at low risk at 7am, it has clearly got much worse over the past couple of hours and the smell of smoke is quite overpowering outside.
Sorry for the short notice, we did not expect conditions like these. We will email you with a makeup date in the next few days