Hi everyone,
This is just a quick reminder that practices are still on tonight and tomorrow unless we have thunder and lightning.
The forecast is for cloudy with showers this evening, and I've just had a look at the weather radar and it looks like a rain cloud might be passing through right around the 6pm session, so I thought I'd remind you all that we are not sticklers for uniforms, etc for the kids. Dress them in whatever they feel comfortable and want to play in. I'm sure some of them might want to wear long pants or a sweater or light rain jackets if it is cold or wet in any of the last few sessions. That is absolutely fine.
I've had a couple of e-mails from people double-checking on the end date, and just to confirm, the remaining sessions are:
We still don't have a definitive update on whether or not we will be able to hold an indoor program through the winter. We still hope to, but are still awaiting more information from the indoor fields and facilities about capacities and availability at the times we would need.
Sorry, we don't have anything more definitive than that, but hopefully, we will be able to let you know by next weekend,
Have a great weekend,
The Li'l Sambas Team
We had a couple of calls from people asking if the program was running tonight and tomorrow, so I just thought I'd send out a quick note to make sure that everyone knew that it is on tonight (Sept 3rd) and tomorrow (Sept 4th).
If you have not picked up your uniform yet and it is your first session tonight, you can get it at the field from about 30 mins before the program starts.
And if any of you didn't receive the welcome e-mails, you can find the information below.
Fall/Winter Indoor Season
I've had a few questions about indoor seasons through the winter. We are planning to run through the winter if a suitable venue can be found, but things are a little up in the air with domes and gyms etc at the moment, so bear with us. As soon as we have something concrete one way or the other, we will send an email out to let everyone know, and have a pre-sale for our current participants if we have a suitable venue.
Just in case anyone missed it, or registered after we sent it, here is the link to the welcome e-mail we sent out earlier this week, along with some additional information on where to go at the field.
https://ottawa.lilsambassoccer.com/home_news/lil-sambas-fall-session-start-date-uniform-and-equipment/429
What will happen when you arrive for your first session.
The location is the field at Immaculata High School, 140 Main Street click here for map etc.
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 will be able to walk or cycle onto the campus from there.
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.
All participants will be entering via the gate on the Main Street end of the field. After the practice, children will be exiting by the gate in the middle of the field at the school side. This is important to maintain separation between the participants leaving from one hour and those arriving for the next. We are still being cautious with COVID awareness and to reduce the number of children entering and exiting in the same place at the same time.
We will allow the next group of players onto the field when the previous group has left. Parents should make their way to the middle gate as the sessions end to collect their children.
We appreciate your patience while waiting and being prompt to exit the field area with your children to allow the next group of participants to start.
We would also ask parents to observe social distancing while waiting to enter and exit and while spectating.
We look forward to meeting you all this weekend,
You are receiving this e-mail because you are registered for the fall session of our Li'l Sambas soccer programs.
If you are new to the program: welcome! If you are continuing from the spring/summer session that just finished, you can probably skip the rest of this e-mail as the uniform and equipment information is the same as last session.
The fall programs will start on FRIDAY AUGUST 27th, and SATURDAY AUGUST 28th at their respective times.
The two most common questions we've been getting over the past few days have been about when you will receive the uniform and what equipment do they need/would we recommend.
Uniform
You will be able to pick up your uniform at the field, half an hour before your first session. Just come to Main Street entrance to the field and we will give you your 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.
If you have not already purchased the uniform package for your child at the time of registration, you can add it by selecting "shirt, shorts and socks" in the drop-down menu on the registration page. If you took part in the spring/summer session and already have a uniform, you do not need to purchase another one, you can use the same uniform.
Equipment
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: water bottle (prefilled, we do not have access to a water source or bathrooms while the school building is off-limits), mask (a mask will not be required while playing), sunscreen, sun hat or sweater if required for the weather.
We look forward to meeting you all later this week,
This is a little bit more information on what will happen when you arrive tonight and tomorrow for our first session.
We will allow the next group of players onto the field when the previous group has left. Parents should make their way to the middle gate as the sessions end to collect their child.
We appreciate your patience while waiting and being prompt to exit the field area with you children to allow the next group of participants to start.
We are asking parents and kids to wear masks as they enter and exit the field, and as they wait to enter before their session. Masks will NOT be required for children while participating.
We will send a second email today with information that is specific for each program detailing where your child goes once they enter the field.
We look forward to finally meeting you all this weekend,
You are receiving this email because you are registered for the following program:
Tangos
If you ever need to check what program and date and time you are registered for, log in to the website and click on "My Programs" in either of the top or side menus on the website (click on the yellow button with three lines to drop down the menu if you are on mobile)
Once you enter from the gate on the Main Street side, you will proceed to field 1 (the CLOSEST FIELD to the entrance gate).
Once you enter at the main gate, you can walk your child along the running track to field 1 and drop them off there with the coaches. You should then exit the field via the gates in the middle of the field next to the school. From there you can walk up the stairs and turn right and that takes you back to the car park.
Please do not bring any additional equipment or bags onto the field, other than your child's water bottle and sun hat (if required).
There is a grass bank on the outside of the fence which gives a nice view of the field. At this time we do not allow any non-participating spectators inside the field boundary.
As the session reaches its end, please make your way to the gate in the middle of the field beside the school
Once the session is finished, we will bring your child over to the gate in the middle of the field, beside the school. From there you can walk up the stairs and turn right and that takes you back to the car park.
Please depart the field in a timely manner to allow us to bring the next group of participants onto the field.
Please take great care entering and exiting the car park, as there are a lot of children and adults coming in and out.
We sent the following information about equipment and uniforms earlier this week:
https://ottawa.lilsambassoccer.com/home_news/uniform-pickup-option-tonight-at-immaculata/423
If you are picking up the uniform tonight, they will be available at the field entrance about 45 minutes onwards before your game. Chris will also be at the field from 4pm onwards on Friday, and if you swing by around then, you should be able to pick up your uniform.
We look forward to meeting you all tonight,
Chris
Li'l Sambas
Once you enter from the gate on the Main Street side, you will proceed to field 3 (the FURTHEST FIELD from the entrance gate).
Once you enter at the main gate, you can walk your child along the running track to field 3 and drop them off there with the coaches. You should then exit the field via the gates in the middle of the field next to the school.
Wee Copas
Once you enter from the gate on the Main Street side, you will proceed to field 2 (the MIDDLE FIELD of the three fields). For the Wee Copas age group, the parent will be on the field with their child for the duration of the session, participating in the session with them. Any additional spectators can watch from the grass bank on the outside of the fencing around the field.
We will finish the Wee Copas session a few minutes earlier than the other age groups to allow our youngest players to depart the field before the other age groups finish up.
Once the session is finished, you and your child will leave the field by the gate in the middle of the field, beside the school. From there you can walk up the stairs and turn right and that takes you back to the car park.
Just a quick update on Monday's email. It seems like quite a few of you would like to pick up your uniform before the first night of the program, and we would encourage you to do so if possible to cut down on the admin on what will be a very busy opening night on Friday or Saturday.
Uniform Pickup Option #1 - You can pick up your uniform at the field at Immaculata High School (140 Main Street) tonight (Wednesday 30th) from 7.10 to 7.50pm or 8.10 to 9.00pm*. I'll be near the front gate on the Main Street end of the field beside the blue trailer.
*In case you are wondering about the slightly odd timing with the gap around 7pm and 8pm, we will be checking in our adult league teams to their games at those times, and you may have to wait around for a while while we take care of that.
Uniform Pickup Option #2: You can pick up your uniform in the 30 minutes or so before your first session this weekend (or on a future weekend)
We are finally less than a week away from the start of the program!
Now that the province has confirmed that we will move into stage two of the reopening this Wednesday, we can confirm that, as we indicated in our last update, the programs will start on FRIDAY JULY 2nd, and SATURDAY JULY 3rd at their respective times.
You will be able to pick up your uniform at the field, half an hour before your first session. We understand that some of you may prefer to pick up your uniform in advance. If there is enough interest in picking the uniform up in advance, we will organise a uniform pick up at Immaculata on Wednesday evening (July 30th). If you would be interested in a Wednesday evening pick up, just reply to this email with "Wednesday Pick Up" and if there is enough interest, we will confirm a time for the pick up.
If you have not already purchased the uniform package for your child at the time of registration, you can add it by selecting "shirt, shorts and socks" in the drop-down menu on the registration page.
We have had an incredible response to the new programs, with over 300 kids registered in the training programs and many sessions completely sold out. There are still one or two final spaces available and you can find an update on availability on the website.
We've added something slightly different for 8-12 year olds too, with our small-sided "street-soccer" games on Friday afternoons at 5pm.
No drills, no practice, just an hour of small-sided soccer with kids the same age on the best possible surface in a safe, fun environment. The games will be overseen by the Futuro coaching staff providing in-game advice and tips as the kids get many touches on the ball as they can handle.
Whether the kids are in the Li'l Sambas program already and are looking for extra touches, only join this program, or play elsewhere and just want to play some more. . . everyone is welcome! No uniform package required to join this program.
Spaces are very limited and you can register now at the Li'l Sambas Website.
We have been able to move the start date for Li'l Sambas forward one week to Friday, July 2nd, and Saturday, July 3rd.
The Province moved into phase one of the reopening on Friday, a few days earlier than had originally been planned, which means that we can now start on the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd. It is a nice change to be able to move the start date forward, rather than back!
I'll send another update early next week including some information on some additional programs giving kids an extra hour of safe, supervised soccer games (no coaching).
Have a great weekend everyone,
Hello everyone,
This is a further update in light of the Province's reopening roadmap.
In order to offer the program that we had envisaged and that you had signed up for, and to provide it to the number of kids that have already signed up, we don't believe that we can start the program until the Province enters stage 2 of the reopening.
This means that according to the current schedule for reopening the Provence, the programs will start on FRIDAY 9th of JULY and SATURDAY 10th of July respectively. The program details have been updated accordingly.
Thank you again for all of your patience everyone, we can't wait to finally see you back on the field,
Take care,
Chris, Sanjeev, and the Li'l Sambas team.
Good Morning Everyone,
We hope you enjoyed the nice weather over the holiday weekend.
As you know the Province of Ontario made an announcement on Thursday regarding their roadmap to reopening Ontario. It laid out some provisional dates for when certain activities and businesses are allowed to resume.
https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/1000159/roadmap-to-reopen
As we have seen before, the announcement and information answered some questions, but some specifics are a little ambiguous. There is often some clarification that follows within a few days of the announcement.
We will be able to start the Li'l Sambas programs once the province enters either Stage 1 or Stage 2 of the reopening process. Whether we can start at phase 1 or 2 is something that we hope to be able to clarify soon.
The announcement gave the following provisional dates (all dependent on targets such as % of people vaccinated, # of cases, etc. continue to be achieved)
In light of the information that we have from the update from the Province, we will be moving our provisional start dates back to June 18th and 19th. This is not a definitive date but is our current best guess of the earliest date that we would be allowed to start the programs.
Thank you again for your patience and we will send another update once we have got some further clarity on the start date,
Thank you to everyone that joined us on Saturday for our free online training session. We had almost 60 kids signed up for the session and they powered their way through a packed session of physical literacy and ball mastery following along with coach Sanjeev and his family. We saw some pretty impressive scores posted during the interactive drills too and some fantastic commitment from moms, dads, and even grandmas really getting involved.
We've posted a highlights video of Saturday's session here:
Li'l Sambas Online Training Highlights Sat May 1st
We got a really positive response to Saturday's session and requests to continue to run more sessions, so we have decided to offer an online-only program to give kids and parents a chance to get involved while we remain unable to get back on the field.
We'll be offering a 30-minute physical literacy and ball mastery session each Saturday for the next three weeks.
Each session will include the following
The cost for the three-week session is $30 and you can register online at the Li'l Sambas website:
Saturday ONLINE Training program registration
Hopefully, everyone got our email letting them know that the Li'l Sambas programs will now be starting on the first weekend in JUNE rather than the first weekend in May (due to the Provincial COVID-19 restrictions).
As we had mentioned in the e-mail we will be holding an online information session tomorrow at 8pm. Since it will be a little longer than we expected before we get to meet you in person, we have decided to set up a couple of online options to fill the gap.
Sanjeev, our head coach will be giving you a rundown of what we'll be covering in the program and what to expect from the program for each age group and be available to answer any of the questions you may have about what we'll be doing on the field. Chris will also be available to answer any questions you may have about registrations, the location, what to bring, check-in, etc.
If any of you have any questions you definitely would like answered, feel free to send them over to us by e-mail: it might be a question that other people are asking too. (Don't forget we also have an FAQ section on the website).
We are using google meet for the call and you can join the meeting here:
To join a meeting on Google Meet, click this link: https://meet.google.com/naq-onha-vph
Or open Meet and enter this code: naq-onha-vph
The information session is open to anyone, so if you have friends or family that were interested in the program and wanted to know more, feel free to pass on the link
In order to give the kids a chance to get active and get started despite the delay, we'll be offering an online coach session free of charge this Saturday at 9am. Coach Sanjeev will be running through some fun activities and drills with his own family that kids and parents can practice together. It will be suitable for any of the age groups (4 to 10) and you'll be able to participate in a small space - the garden, the park or even the basement - you don't have to head out to a wide-open space (unless you want to).
We hope we'll see as many of you there as possible on Saturday.
This does NOT count as one of the 8 sessions that you have registered as part of the program, it's just a little bonus to thank you for your patience. We will send an e-mail out on Friday with the email link for the session.
Take care everyone and we look forward to meeting you,
As we are sure you are aware, we will not able to start the programs next weekend due to the ongoing Provincial COVID-19 measures. Rather than starting on the first weekend of May, the program is now scheduled to start on the first weekend of June. Even this date may be subject to change, depending on which phase of reopening we are in at that time.
We do fully expect to complete all of the sessions as planned and to deliver the full 8-week program as promised. If for any reason we are unable to complete all or part of the program (e.g. if we had to shorten the program to 6 sessions or similar) there would be a refund for the part of the program that cannot be completed.
We are as disappointed as you are that we will not be able to kick-off next weekend as planned. However, in order to get the kids active and excited about the program, and as a way of thanking all of you for your patience during these unpredictable times, coach Sanjeev is going to offer a free online coaching session on Saturday 1st of May at 9am. This would have been the weekend that the program was originally scheduled to start. The session will be conducted live and online, and you will be able to tune in via Google Meet. The session will be suitable for kids and their parents to work on on their own in the back garden, the park, or maybe even the basement!
It is completely FREE (and optional) and is a bonus for participants: you will still receive the full 8-week session once we are ready to gather together safely on the field.
We will send another e-mail out next week with full details and the login link for the session.
We've also decided to hold an online information meeting at 8pm this coming Thursday, where the coaching staff will give you a run down of the details of what the kids will be doing in the program and allow you to ask the admin staff any questions that you may want to have clarified about any other aspects of the program.
We will send the full details of this meeting to you on Wednesday. We will make both the information session and the training session open to anyone, so if you have friends or family that are still thinking of signing up, feel free to pass on the details once we send them out next week,
Take care and have a great weekend everyone,
Chris and the Li'l Sambas Team
Hi everyone.
We've been bowled over by the response to our new Li'l Sambas kids' soccer programs!
Our programs at 6pm on Fridays are now sold out, and our 9am Saturday programs are close to selling out too. To meet the demand for spaces, we have just added new time slots for our programs for kids aged 4 to 10. All three age groups will now also be offered at 7pm on Fridays and 10am on Saturdays.
You can find full details of all of the available program times here:
https://ottawa.lilsambassoccer.com/about/kids-soccer
Switching to one of the new timeslots
If you have already registered for one of the programs, and one of the new timeslots would suit you better, we will be happy to move your registration to one of the other timeslots. We can still keep groups together at 7pm and 10am too!
We have also had a few people ask about friends joining some of the sold-out programs. Unfortunately, we cannot increase our capacity in those timeslots, but we can move you to one of the other times where space is available to ensure that friends can join the new programs with you.
Last day of the $99 early bird pricing
We extended out $99 a little longer than we had originally planned due to the provincial shutdown. However, tomorrow will be the final day of the early bird pricing, so if you have friends or family members waiting to sign up, let them know to sign up ASAP if they want to take advantage of the discount!
We are now into the third month of the social distancing measures and we hope you and your families are managing to stay safe, well and positive!
We had been waiting for another update around schools or potentially social and sports leagues for kids, and the province confirmed today that the schools will not complete the current school year.
Spring Seasons
We are still assuming we can complete the spring seasons as planned. We still don't know exactly when that will be though. And it is more of a summer league now!
For now, we are going to push back the start of the programs to the first week of July. This is a very tentative date, it could be later (we can even dream that it could be earlier), depending on when Ottawa Public Health advises that it is safe to resume social or sporting activities.
Beyond that, the messaging is much the same as our last update:
If it does reach a point where we have to shorten or cancel the season, we will either issue a credit to the next season or a refund for the portion of the season that we cannot fulfil.
We are not processing refunds right now because we just don't know what will be happening with the season. Everything hinges upon when we are all allowed to resume sporting and social activities. Once we have dates where we know that play can resume, we will be able to make a decision on the format and length and process all of the credits or refunds if required. This will be a manual process and we will have to process each one individually, so we would like to be able to work through them methodically when the time comes. For that reason, we really appreciate you bearing with us until we know what the final set-up of the programs will be.
Registrations for Spring Programs
Whatever happens, you can go ahead and reserve your space with confidence. If we do have to make changes to what we are currently advertising for our spring programs and the changes aren't suitable for your family we will issue a full refund of your payment before the season starts.
Our EARLY BIRD PRICING is also still in effect until we are able to confirm when the programs will start.
Take care everyone,
Dan, Chris and the Footy Sevens Team
We hope everyone is keeping safe, well and social-distancing!
This is our update on the kids' soccer programs and leagues as the COVID-19 preventative measures continue
It was announced last week that Ontario schools are to remain closed beyond May 4th and the emergency measure extended to May 12th. However, there hasn't been an update yet (as far as we know) about a new date for the schools potentially retuning. Your guess is as good as ours as to when we will get to the stage where sports and leisure activities will resume.
We are still assuming we can complete the spring seasons as planned. When this happens and what changes may be necessary isn't something we can confirm right now because we simply don't know ourselves. Right now, we think the most likely scenario will be that the season will start later and finish later.
At this point, we can assume that the early May start dates for the Wednesday programs will not go ahead, so we are pushing the start of the Wednesday programs back until at least the Wednesday after Victoria Day (May 20th). This is a very tentative date, and our guess is that it is more likely that it will be later than that, depending on when Ottawa Publica Health advises that it is safe to resume social or sporting activities.
Take care everyone, please, please, please take social distancing seriously and support our local small businesses in whatever way you can,
Calling all Footy Parents! Our 2020 Spring and Summer Youth Soccer Programming Is Now Open For Online Registration at https://ottawa.footyforall.ca/. This year we'll be running two different streams of programming, our popular Developmental Sessions and our new Recreational Soccer Leagues! We hope to see you and your little Footy'ers this Spring and Summer!!
For a limited time, you can take advantage of our special early bird pricing and save! Go to our youth soccer website, ottawa.footyforall.ca for full details and registration.
This spring will see the launch of our new Spring/Summer Recreational Soccer Leagues for kids aged 4 to 9. For those who simply want their Footy'er to hit the field and play within a game setting, our Recreation Leagues are for you!
All of the programs will be held at a central location on the top-quality turf field at Immaculata High School in central Ottawa. The emphasis will be on delivering a fun soccer experience for girls and boys, with no tryouts or trips across town: everyone plays and it is the same time same place every week.