SOLON — The pace was a little slower, scores were not kept when a goal was made, but ear-to-ear smiles on the players’ faces attested to the fun they were having as the Solon Parks and Recreation Dept. launched fall youth soccer Thursday, Sept. 8 at the Solon Recreation and Nature Area.
Fall soccer is an annual program with teams for Kindergarten-first grade, second and third grade, and fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. No scores are kept for the younger players while the fourth-sixth teams play in a Rec. League with Lisbon and Mount Vernon (with scores and standings kept). Their season was
to start Thursday, Sept. 15 after a week’s delay due to a lack of coaches in Lisbon.
Director Dylan Sloan said he has a lot of “great problems” to solve as youth sports have really taken off in Solon. “Our (participation) numbers are growing from the years past that we can track (through the registration system). Looking back through previous years, the numbers keep growing higher, which leads to we need more equipment, we need more coaches, we need more referees, we need to adjust our field space, and things like that to accommodate everybody. So those are problems, but they’re good problems to have because it means we have more kids in Solon going out for sports.”
Currently volleyball is played on Sundays from 1:00-7:00 p.m. at the Community Center (started Sept. 11) while a new program – VolleyKidz, starts Sunday, Sept. 18 and will run from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Community Center. In addition, Flag Football, played Mondays from 5:15 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at the SRNA, started on Sept. 12.
“We’re just excited to be here and get these kids out here,” Dylan said. “Going through Covid, we’re not that far out from everybody not being able to do these kinds of things, so I’m just always thankful when I come out here and see them and we’re back to it.
For information on all of Solon’s youth, and adult recreation programs, go to solon-iowa.com/151/Parks-Recreation.
Kane Kuennen looks for a way past an opposing player Thursday, Sept. 8 during youth soccer at the SRNA.