Get to know Okotoks youth soccer player Alice Emms

OKOTOKS, Alberta — Nine-year-old Alice Emms comes from a family of soccer players. Her brother Eric (13), and sister Renee (11) have been part of Okotoks United Soccer Club for years. Mom Kristie plays in the Calgary Women’s Soccer Association and her dad, Lee, is also a soccer player.

Alice will be playing in the Anthem tournament hosted by Okotoks United this month at the Cavalry Field House in Aldersyde.

“I like the thrill of playing soccer,” Alice said. “It makes me forget about anything bad that’s happening. Besides, you learn a lot of skills.”

Alice plays both indoor and outdoor soccer. “Most of the games are in Calgary,” said Kirstie. “They don’t have any games at Aldersyde, but all their practices are there. Alice’s team played Foothills last week and they also play against a team from Mackenzie, and other teams based in Okotoks.”

Alice started playing the beautiful game at age four in the Okotoks United house league. “I like to play defense and I also like to be a midfielder,” she said.

She has a great attitude when it comes to sportsmanship. “We win sometimes, and we lose sometimes,” she admitted, “but each game is overall good, not including the score. We’ll go down, but we won’t go down without a fight.”

According to Kristie, Okotoks United soccer has grown a lot in the last five years, especially on the girls side. “Boys love sports so it’s easier to get them to play,” she said, “but watching the girls starting at House League to see if they like the sport, and then watching them grow into a competitive team has been fun.”

Okotoks United is unique in that they offer three programs – house league, developmental, and competitive teams (the ones that compete against teams from outside Okotoks and go to tournaments).

If you just want to play for fun, you can play in the house league until you’re about 16. The development league provides more advanced coaching for those who want to take the sport more seriously but don’t want the full competitive experience.

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