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The annual Toonie soccer tournament took place from Friday to Sunday at the Canada Games Centre (CGC). Each player in the tourney was expected to bring a toonie for the Whitehorse Food Bank. Non-perishables were also collected for the food bank.

Jamie McAllister was there to watch his daughter Maggie, 7, play in a U9 event in the Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon.

鈥淢y daughter鈥檚 pretty excited,鈥� related McAllister. 鈥淭his is her first time playing on the big pitch.鈥�

His daughter has been playing for only four weeks.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a couple folks step in to do some coaching and they鈥檝e been great,鈥� added McAllister.

Mark Ross was there to watch his seven-going-on-eight-year old son Nathan play.

鈥淗e signed up for (indoor) soccer this winter, and it鈥檚 the first time on the turf,鈥� related Ross.

鈥淗e鈥檚 been playing soccer for about two years. We moved here from Vancouver Island, where there was a bit more of a season, but here taking advantage of the indoor season is a good thing to have.

鈥淲e started on the Island, and now he鈥檚 taken to it here as well,鈥� explained Ross.

鈥淎s he (McAllister) mentioned, this is the first time they鈥檝e been on the turf. There鈥檚 a lot of kids, and with COVID space requirements, they鈥檝e been in one of the school gyms, so today is kind of exciting for them.

鈥淭he kids are definitely 鈥� they鈥檙e enjoying it,鈥� added Ross. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e getting out, they鈥檙e getting active, which is important during the COVID crisis. With COVID, there鈥檚 been a lot of changes, but we鈥檙e taking advantage of what we can do during this time, and it鈥檚 good to keep them active and ... get exercise indoors.鈥�

McAllister and Ross were able to join their kids on the pitch for a fun game at the end of the U9 session.

The final event of the tourney was the girl鈥檚 Futures program. Elise Bingeman was one of the coaches for the event.

On Sundays she helps coach the Futures program, an all girls program with a pretty wide range of ages.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to build the program for girls ... giving a sense of community, giving the girls an opportunity to play together,鈥� explained Bingeman.

鈥淥ften, to get enough numbers, the programs are co-ed, and so this is just a chance to get all the girls out together 鈥� a wide range of ages, so that the younger girls can get mentored by the older girls and the older girls have the opportunity to act as leaders and kind of develop coaching skills of their own,鈥� said Bingeman.

The age range of the 13 girls that showed up at the Futures program was roughly nine to 16.

鈥淪ome of them will just play,鈥� said Bingeman. 鈥淎nytime there鈥檚 an opportunity 鈥� they just love the sport. So I think it just means a lot for them, to just have a time and a place to come and play, work on their skills. And then others are still learning and still developing.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really important to build a sense of community. We have some really awesome coaches as part of this Futures program.

鈥淲e usually do a couple of activities with them, to work on skill development, and then we might play a full-field game if we鈥檙e lucky, which is exciting ... to have enough people to be able to play on a full field is kind of rare,鈥� she added.

Toni Darker, 11, who has been playing since she was 鈥渧ery young鈥�, was one of the participants.

Darker said she had fun at the event. She said she came 鈥渂ecause I like playing with other girls.鈥�

Lucy Brown also had fun. She was out there 鈥渂ecause I love soccer and I signed up for it.鈥�

She added an emphatic 鈥測es!鈥� when asked if she wants to play for a long time and play professionally.

The coach running the program on Sunday was Megan Lanigan.

鈥淚t was really good having all these girls coming out, and they鈥檙e all doing fantastic; really nice seeing them support each other and play really good soccer and have fun while doing it,鈥� she said.

Lanigan explained what the program is trying to achieve.

鈥淚 think the goal is just to keep people engaged in soccer and encourage young women to become leaders through the use of sport and having everybody just kind of support each other on and off the field.

Just getting young women to be encouraged to be leaders ... on the field and off the field ... it鈥檚 kind of creating a positive community for young girls and women playing soccer.鈥�

As for the future, Lanigan said she thinks the girls have a bright one.

鈥淎nything they want. If they want to continue at soccer, they鈥檙e gonna be great at that. If that want to do other sports 鈥� it鈥檚 all about just creating confidence ... carrying the confidence that they learn here to school work, and to just their daily lives ... these young women are incredible, and already I鈥檓 seeing that they鈥檙e going to be some great leaders in their community.鈥�

Travis Banks, office administrator of Whitehorse United FC and Toonie tourney organizer, said the weekend went well.

鈥淚 think with the restrictions that were in place, we managed it pretty well and had good turnouts ... we鈥檝e got a good amount of cash and food for the food bank, so I think it was good.鈥�

Banks was happy with the turnout.

鈥淵eah, it was good. It鈥檚 so hard to know how many people are going to show up but I think, for the most part, we had a good turnout and lots of good soccer.鈥�

When asked how much of an impact the current COVID state of emergency had on attendance, Banks replied 鈥渋t depends on the age group. I think the youngest age groups who aren鈥檛 vaccinated, I think there鈥檚 a lot more families who weren鈥檛 comfortable coming out, which is totally fair. But we just wanted to make sure that we put on soccer for those who were interested. Some of the younger age groups were a bit lower than expected, but what can you do about that, really?鈥�

Banks said there were no medals handed out this year.

鈥淲e鈥檝e gone away from medals for the past couple of years 鈥榗ause really it鈥檚 more about fundraising for the food bank than anything.鈥�

There were no official results kept, either.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 even have referees this time. We just let the coaches get the players, and we had to mix up teams, because sometimes only four kids from one team would show up, and 12 from the other team, so there were no official tournament rules or standings or anything like that. It was just a for-fun soccer festival.鈥�

Banks added a big thank you to the CGC staff for their help with the tourney.

鈥淭hey were really easy to work with us in terms of the setup needs and capacity and things like that.

鈥淭hank you for everyone who came out. It was a good little event.鈥�

The Toonie Tournament garnered 10 bags of groceries and $700 cash for the Whitehorse Food Bank.