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The Whitehorse Recreational Co-ed Soccer League is entering its 20th season. To celebrate, players gathered at the North of Ordinary Experience Centre on Tuesday for a party.

The players mingled and laughed as they watched a slideshow of pictures from years past. They were also treated to a talk from league founder Doug Hitch.

Hitch said he never thought about the league reaching its 20th anniversary.

鈥淚 thought it would go as long as it would,鈥� said Hitch. 鈥淚 guess it鈥檚 a good formula for recreation and people having fun.鈥�

Hitch came to Whitehorse in 1995 and starting coaching right away. In 1996, the city was mulling over the idea of a multiplex.

鈥淭he gymnasiums were full of kids playing soccer,鈥� said Hitch. 鈥淭he city at that point was considering the idea of building a multiplex. The city released a report in 1996 about a proposed indoor complex.

鈥淭he biggest user of indoor use was soccer and in that report, not a single voice from soccer had given input. I started a campaign to get soccer included in the discussion for the multiplex.

鈥淚 realized the issue was there were not enough adults playing soccer. There was a psychology gap. There was the idea that soccer was out of place and didn鈥檛 belong because it was so new.

鈥淎s part of this campaign, I decided more adults needed to play soccer. I tried different experiments here and there and one of the things I hit upon after a few failures was this idea of co-ed with the engineered teams and special rules to make it more accessible.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a sound principle. The main reason you want to play is to have fun. You don鈥檛 want to go out and crush somebody鈥檚 spirit or have your spirit crushed. You want to run around and have fun.鈥�

The co-ed league emphasizes fun and learning the game. Everyone is welcome and no experience is required. The nets are small and there are no goalies. The score is not tallied.

The league鈥檚 motto hasn鈥檛 changed since its inauguration.

鈥淲e used to make players sign when they registered, the registration said: 鈥榶ou have read the rules sheet and the philosophy sheet,鈥欌�� said Hitch.

Since the league is not refereed the sportsmanship philosophy is important. Hitch also said in the early years this allowed the league to keep its costs down.

Hitch no longer plays in the league but he still looks at his time spent playing and organizing it fondly.

鈥淚 am,鈥� said Hitch, when asked if he was proud of the league he created. 鈥淚 feel like a grandparent. I鈥檒l go by a game and I won鈥檛 see anybody I know. Still, it鈥檚 good to see it.鈥�

When Hitch first came to town he said there was a good men鈥檚 league and a strong women鈥檚 league but nothing indoors or for co-ed.

He advertised an outdoor co-ed league and said the response was overwhelming and that more people registered than expected. He carried that momentum indoors and the league hasn鈥檛 looked back. An outdoor season is also run.