Photos provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — It’s that time of year again, sweater weather, pumpkin flavored everything, and for the Recreation Department, it’s soccer time.
“Our soccer program has been around for several years,” said Jill Ramos, program coordinator of the Saratoga Springs Recreation Department.
On September 8, the youth fall soccer programs kick into full swing. The fall soccer program consists of: Little Kickers, which is a parent/ child introductory program for pre-k students introducing them to the game and teaching basic fundamentals through activities; Big Kickers, which is for kindergartners, a step up in knowledge and games from the Little Kickers; both are weekend programs. City residents pay $60, school district residents pay $85, outside of the district residents pay $110. The Youth Soccer League, for kids in grades 1-12, plays twice a week, typically on weeknights and on Saturdays. City residents pay $75, school district residents pay $100, outside residents pay $125. All soccer programs are co-ed. Youth League is broken into teams, number of teams depends on how many players, and each team plays within the league. “We have a good retention for coaches. They are usually parents of players, a lot of times, who played in college or play in adult leagues themselves. So, we’re able to pick from our pool of players themselves,” Ramos said of the coaching staff. There are scholarships available for people, contact the Recreation Department for more details.
“The soccer program is one of the biggest programs that we run, and it will typically have about 470 players for the fall. We also have a spring league and summer clinics,” Ramos explained.
Both the fall and spring leagues are equally popular. The Recreation Department also has a Pickleball League, which was started last spring, and is continuing in the fall for players 18 and up. The pickleballers meet on Mondays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the recreation center.
“Pickleball has become very popular with adults. It’s a combination of tennis, badminton, and table tennis. They play with smaller rackets. It’s neat. We have drop-in session three days a week starting in September and they’re very popular. We’ll have all four courts playing,” Ramos said.
The league in the fall will follow the ladder style system. The teams are set up so it is similar skill levels and they play on double round robins with other teams within the league and the points help determine who they play the next week. Introduction to Ice Skating will now have an early fall session, on top of their winter, spring, and summer sessions. The early fall session is for the skaters who just finished with summer and don’t want to lose momentum and for those who want to get a head start before the winter session. Introduction to Ice Skating is for ages three and up and the early fall session will begin October 2.
“We’re busy all year round,” Ramos commented.
For more information on all the Recreation Department has to offer, visit www.saratoga-springs. org/151/Recreation-Department.
