Walking soccer club nets $25,000 grant to aid in further developing tournament, organization
While the pace of their games might not be increasing, the heartbeats of the Stratford Sloths might be going up a little bit after news of their recent government grant approval.
The Sloths are one of a number of community groups that will receive a $25,000 grant from the provincial government’s Seniors Community Grant program. The money, applied for by the Stratford Tourism Alliance (STA) on behalf of the Sloths, is slated to help expand walking soccer for older adults by boosting outreach, enhancing their digital tools, upgrading equipment and sharing knowledge, while also helping the organization to add a permanent annual tournament to their season.
Pete Mitchell, president of the Stratford Sloths Walking Soccer League, said it’s taken a while for the sport to grab hold in the city once the municipality re-opened facilities following pandemic restrictions.
“This wasn’t a thing before then, and Graham Bunting’s dad had played it over in England,” Mitchell said. “Right now we’ve got between 24-30 members, all of whom are at least 40 years old – we’ve got five or six that are in their 70s!”
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Mitchell said that part of the money will go to improvements that include new uniforms, defibrillator equipment and promotions for the tournament and the sport in general. As far as the tournament goes, they just hosted their second iteration at the end of May but the group is looking forward to giving the annual tournament more permanence.
“We play against teams from Oakville, Toronto and Sarnia so they’re really too far apart to play in a league,” he said. “Oakville was the first to get going and each place has tried to set up a tournament. We have about four of them a year.”
Mitchell was grateful for the support the Sloths got from the STA in applying for the grant, crediting Zac Gribble and his team for following up on a conversation they had to kick-start the process.
“They (STA) were the ones who brought up the idea of applying for the grant to help us grow the sport,” he said. “We had just done it so long ago that it wasn’t front of mind for us until we got the news.”
That’s all in keeping with the club’s motto of ‘Festina Lente’ (Hurry Slowly). The work to sort out all the details begins now, Mitchell said.
“We’re looking forward to growing the game here for men and women,” he said. “You don’t have to have played soccer all your life, but it helps. Everybody who’s playing here has improved their game and their fitness, too.”
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