The Calgary Minor Soccer Association (CMSA) is kickstarting its indoor season with a record number of registrations and calls for more facilities to accommodate the growth.
The season is starting two weeks ahead of schedule with 30,000 registrations and 120 new teams, a 12-per cent increase year-over-year.
CMSA executive director Carlo Bruneau believes the growth can be attributed to sport’s affordability and accessibility, but also booming popularity across the country with its national level teams, Canada’s co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and even the success of the local men’s team Calvary FC.
“The see-it-and-you-can-be-it dream is a reality now and we only expect the popularity and growth to continue,” Bruneau told Global News.
“But then we’ve got the challenge of where are we going to play?”
The league’s schedulers are now tasked with coordinating more than 6,400 games this season at a limited number of indoor facilities across the city.
Bruneau said it could mean significant challenges with the continued growth without the addition of new facilities.
“How are we going to make sure that we don’t have to turn away kids from participating?” he said. “We want to be able to accommodate everyone that wants to play the beautiful game.”
According to CMSA, the recent opening of the multi-sport Shouldice Seasonal Dome has helped with the growing demand.
Construction is also underway on a $28-million expansion at the Calgary Soccer Centre to build a new indoor field and accompanying amenities at the facility.
Although that dome is set to open early next year, Bruneau said the field time is still 6,500 hours short of the current demand.
“We’re a couple of facilities away but it’s like climbing a ladder, one rung at a time,” he said.
City officials note the backlog in facilities is another symptom of Calgary’s increasing population, but also the exponential growth in popularity for soccer.
“We’ve provided quite well for sports like hockey and skating, and aquatics and fitness, and haven’t traditionally provided that same level for soccer,” said City of Calgary Recreation & Social Programs director Heather Johnson.
According to Johnson, there are several multi-sport fieldhouse projects in various stages of planning across the city.
The first, a $32-million facility in Belmont, is expected to begin construction next year.
A regional fieldhouse project in Skyview Ranch is also partially funded but is only in the early planning stages.
A $380-million multi-sport fieldhouse at Foothills Athletic Park is also on the city’s “priority capital funding list” with $127 million in city funds, but still requires support from other orders of government.
Johnson noted Calgary is the only major city in Canada without a fieldhouse.
“We grew last year by about the population of Medicine Hat, and Medicine Hat has two fieldhouses,” Johnson said. “We’re now a city of 1.4 million and as we soar to 2 million, we need additional investment in high-quality, indoor practice and play for soccer and other sports.”
Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian said she often hears about the need for more recreation facilities in Calgary.
But with city council set to debate a tight budget later this fall, Mian said limited infrastructure funding becomes a challenge to balance.
“Roads competes with rec facilities which competes with transit priorities, so it comes down to making the investments where people want them,” Mian told Global News.
“I always encourage people to write to their councillor and let them know this is something that matters to them.”