Skill Centre program update

BRIEF HISTORY 

The WYSA Skill Centre was introduced in 2024 by previous club staff. This program was meant to create a higher level training program that fed into team placements for coysa league play. However, upon reviewing the program and its goals in early 2025, Matt (WYSA ED) and Jason (WYSA TD) determined that the program was too focused on creating teams, with a limited number of players benefiting overall, and didn’t accomplish the club’s goal of total player development. Quite frankly, it was excluding players and narrowing a “team” focus too much. Canada Soccer has a comprehensive Skill Centre structure and a mandate that clubs should follow, and one of the clear guiding principles is that “the underlying aim of Skill Centres is to provide the best environment possible to as many young players as possible for as long as possible.” (from the CSA’s document on Skill Centres across Canada) 

One of the struggles the club has had over many years was that many players drop out by 14 or 15 years of age, and without a larger base of players that have been developed and included, the club ends up not being able to field teams in the U15 or U16 age groups. This happened again last summer when we had to fold a planned U16 boys team and were required to combine a U14 and U15 girls team due to a lack of numbers overall in those age groups. We strongly felt that without addressing some of these structural issues with the next crop of 7 to 13 year olds in the Skill Centre, and to find a way to increase participation in those key age groups, we were destined to repeat those same issues year over year. 

WYSA decided the best course of action was that for the fall and winter (2025-26) program there would be no teams created until more players had an opportunity to join and train in an enhanced Skill Centre program. The philosophy was to encourage more players to experience better training over a 6+ month period. We made the adjustment to fully run the fall and winter program with staff coaches so that the training environment could be a monitored environment for all players. 

Our plan was to put development/select teams together again in the U7-U13 age groups by late winter (Feb/March), and we are on track to do this with the inclusion now of appointed coaches in the Skill Centre age groups. 

WHERE WE ARE AT 

We did accomplish the goal of getting more players into a regular training environment. In fact, we saw an increase in the Skill Centre registration in September by 30%. Some groups were bursting at the seems with double the number of players that joined, and some groups added a few more players to supplement the numbers and give more players these developmental opportunities. Yes we had some growing pains with larger groups, but we are now heading into 2026 with a head of steam to put together good development teams for spring play, with coaches that will be supported by our TD and staff coaches. 

TEAM FORMATION 

Now that the coaches are being put in place for each U10-U13 development team, those coaches will work with Jason to confirm the players selected for the development teams. Those players will be notified by February 20, and players not selected to a development team will be offered a spot on a recreational team for the spring season. 

For players NOT currently in the Skill Centre that wish to play on a development team in the spring, they should reach out to Jason (td@wysa.ca). Those players will be invited for 2 training sessions before February 20 to be considered for a spot on a spring Development team. 

For players in the U7-U9 age group, coysa and BC Soccer require clubs to balance those teams and they aren’t considered “select” teams. Jason will work with each of those age groups in lining up coaches and building teams before the end of this current development block. 

In the spring, U7-U13 Skill Centre teams will practice twice per week with a coysa or toysl game on weekends, whereas there will also be a recreational level at U7-U13 for players looking for less commitment than the Skill Centre program. WYSA will be entering U7-U9 teams in coysa’s regular balanced league, U10-U11 in coysa’s development league, and U12-U13 in the toysl league.