Monday 5 August 2013

Woodstock Soccer Club seeks additional financial support

Cowan Park kicks off final stage of fundraising
By Mark Schadenberg
WOODSTOCK -- It’s not a horse race or the Olympic marathon, but they are now in the stretch drive.
‘They’ are the Woodstock Soccer Club (WSC) and its fundraising committee which has built the spectacular Cowan Park facility on the north end of Woodstock – 16 soccer pitches, including a premier lit field.
As a coach in Under4 soccer locally, I distributed to the parents on my Royal Blue squad, the latest info package on paying off the construction bill and different ways individuals, families, and companies can contribute to help retire the final outstanding bills of this outstanding complex. 
The leaflets also included background on how someone could rent part of the complex for a wedding or other function.
You could purchase a plaque inside the main hallway of the indoor soccer facility, which includes a terrific gymnasium utilized for wedding receptions and competitive volleyball, and many other functions.
Naming rights to an outdoor field, and advertising along the outside perimeter fencing, are just two more ways to sponsor minor soccer. Another? Sponsoring a team, but that is under the umbrella (pun intended) of the soccer club itself (www.eteamz.com/woodstocksoccer).
Under the ‘Cowan Park Project’ heading on the website is an impressive list of donors already recognized, and you could have your business and/or family still added as a legacy to soccer recreation in Woodstock, but keep in mind this complex also includes a (elevated) walking track above the indoor soccer pitch, adult volleyball and other users of the indoor field, most notably rugby and minor football.
The focus on the soccer club pitch is this: recognition on the donor wall for $100.
The WSC maintains a goal of $1.2 million for its final stage of fundraising. That’s a lot of $100 bricks or commemorative hallway plaques.
The WSC has a long-term commitment to the City to re-pay a loan over the next 15+ years. Reaching the club’s goal will pay for the bricks and mortar, and also maintain reasonable registration costs.
“This target will allow us to achieve our fundraising goals and maintain our vision of keeping registration and operational costs of the (WSC) and Cowan Park reasonable for users,” says WSC past president and Cowan Park fundraising chair Duane Griffith in a letter circulated to outdoor minor soccer players recently.
With receipts generated by the City of Woodstock, there is a tax receipt issued.
For details, call (519) 421-0300, or Duane Griffith at dgriffith24@hotmail.com. I think the 24 is for the number of hours in a day Duane thinks about local soccer.

Finally, as current chair of the Woodstock Recreation Advisory Committee I certainly do want to recognize all the remarkable (volunteer) efforts of soccer club executives and volunteers, especially Griffiths, Ted Beynen, Kelly Stringle and Walter Kirchner.
By the way, the earlier reference to umbrella is the fact that I coach my son’s Under4 soccer team and twice this year we played when it was raining sideways. I know soccer is an all-weather game – stopped only during lightning, but at Under4 and some children are still 3 (born in 2009), so I felt we had at least two days that a postponement would have been a good idea. If players are less than 8 years old, it’s just not fun. We had rain on our team picture day and two players left after the photographer was done and didn’t stay for the ‘toddler soccer shower’.


Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Royal LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage

Discussion . . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination

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