Winter Soccer - Things to Know

With the Winter season upon us, here are a few reminders for how best to prepare our young players during these cold and wet days.

Clothing: keeping players as warm and as dry as possible is key to keeping soccer fun during the colder months. Please send your player to practices and games dressed in appropriate warm gear. Try layer using lighter clothing that can be removed if players get to hot, e.g., base layers under jersey and shorts, tracksuit top/botton, rain jacket, toque, gloves. Why not even show your BIFC colors when layering by purchasing some of our training gear available on the website: https://www.bowenfc.com/category/all-products

Away Games: game away from Bowen Island can add an extra challenge in winter. While Coaches and Manager try to make it was dry and warm as possible, by bring tents and benches, being out in the cold for several hours can be challenging for smaller bodies. Add some handwarmers to you players soccer bag for those cold days, or bring a blanket to keep players warm on the bench. A spare pair of dry clothes will also help players warm up after the game.

Cancellations: we at BIFC and in the League encourage all Practise Sessions and Games to be completed when possible. We will only cancel practice sessions and games if it is unsafe to do so - think standing water, frozen pitch, snow on the field. Cancellations of practice sessions are usually done with guidance from the BIFC Technical Director or by Coaches themselves. Game cancellations will usually be performed the night before a game for severe conditions (frozen or snow covered field), or by 8am the morning of the game (heavy rains). On Bowen Island, game cancellations and decided by the Technical Director. For Away game they are decided by the League in conjunction with local Municipalities. Here are some useful links for Field Status on the NorthShore and are usually updated on Friday afternoons:

- West Vancouver: https://westvancouver.ca/parks-recreation/parks-trails/fields-conditions

- City of North Vancouver: https://x.com/CNVFields

- District of North Vancouver: https://www.instagram.com/DNVfields

Stay safe and stay warm over the coming months and make this an enjoyable season for your soccer superstar.