June 28, 2018
The application for a men's and women's soccer team for Portage College Voyageurs has been accepted by the Alberta College Athletic Conference (ACAC) for the 2019/20 season in November. Both soccer teams will play out of the Lac La Biche campus.
"The soccer program will draw 40 new student-athletes, 20 men and 20 women, to Portage College, which expands College enrolments while providing opportunities for students to participate in the highly competitive sport within the ACAC," says Guy Gervais, Vice President Academic at Portage College.
"Adding men's and ladies' soccer teams is exactly the type of initiative that will support filling existing programs and provide future opportunities for new ones. We are so excited to have this growth opportunity," says Nancy Broadbent, Interim President and CEO of Portage College.
The next 8 to 10 weeks for the Athletic Department will be busy as they search for a Head Coach and recruit student-athletes. The Voyageurs are required to play some indoor and outdoor exhibition games in the 2018/19 year to be ready for a full regular season in 2019/20.
The Portage College Athletic Department submitted the application in November 2017 and it was approved on June 25th 2018.
"I'm pleased to see this application accepted by the ACAC and have both soccer teams start right away. We are excited that we will be adding student-athletes to our athletics program this fall on the Lac La Biche campus," comments Jim Knight, Portage College Voyageurs Athletic Manager.
The application process involved many groups. Portage College Athletic Association Board President Les Cote and Board Member Lorin Tkachuk were involved during the ACAC site visit in March at the LLB Campus. The Lac La Biche Junior Soccer Society (LLBJSS) was also present during those meetings with President Allan Robertson in attendance.
"The Lac La Biche Junior Soccer Society is pleased to hear that Portage College will host ACAC soccer in our community. In partnership with the soccer team, they will help provide year-round coach and player mentorship for our youth in the community and be an inspiration for their own continued athletic success," says LLBJSS President Allan Robertson.
The other stakeholder that was involved in the application was Lac La Biche County. The commitment by the County Council to construct a new artificial turf field at the Bold Center showed our community's commitment to fostering athletic excellence.
"We're pleased to see Portage College expand its athletics programs, which will increase student enrolment and benefit our minor soccer association," says Lac La Biche County Mayor Omer Moghrabi. "We hope the soccer team will inspire an even higher level of excellence in our junior players. Lac La Biche County looks forward to continuing to work with the College."
For more information, please contact Voyageurs Manager of Athletics Jim Knight at 780-623-5545.
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We acknowledge that Portage College’s service region is on the traditional lands of First Nation Peoples, the owners of Treaty 6, 8 and 10, which are also homelands to the Métis people. We honour the history and culture of all people who first lived and gathered in these lands.