Registration time for minor ball, soccer and football is over and all three associations say there are changes in the numbers as compared to numbers in all three sports.
In minor soccer, more than 350 players were reported to have registered.
“This is slightly down as compared to last year,” said Barry Yaremcio, president of the Stettler minor soccer association.
“But as the season gets closer, we find that younger kids decide to join and that is just fine,” Yaremcio said.
“We have two U12 boys teams, which is up from last year. The rest of the competitive teams are pretty full.”
As for minor ball, the total number of players registered for this year is slightly above last year, according to Nancy Bauman of the Stettler minor ball association.
“We have 210 registered players this year,” said Bauman.
“All the teams have their rosters more or less complete, but midget boys could use more players.”
Bauman was also hopeful that more children would be willing to register as the season approached.
“Generally, more people fall in when it is closer to season,” she said.
In minor football, peewee Panthers saw a decline in the numbers this year.
Whereas 52 had registered for the season last year, less than 40 signed up this year.
“But we hope for more as the season approaches,” said Brandi Roper, peewee Panthers manager.
Panthers will be losing most of their experienced players as they advance to bantam level to play in the ranks of Cougars next season.
Cougars head coach Mike Roach said their roster was not crowded, either.
“We will have about 16 players joining from the peewee Panthers this year and we have only about 10 returning players from last year’s roster,” Roach said.
He also said there could be more players joining his team as the season approaches.