Capital District Minor Football Association

The City of Edmonton has decided to vote on the replacement of the turf at Clarke Park with a new artificial surface that will have no permanent football lines.  The vote is Tuesday, March 11. 

The purpose for replacing the turf is mainly to accommodate FC Edmonton.  This is turn means that football lines must be painted on Clarke after FC games and washed off prior to FC games.  It takes a substantial amount of time to paint lines and with our weather, a longer period for them to dry.  The City Administration cannot / will not guarantee football access to another site that will accommodate our needs.  This means that if junior game gets bumped, the high school schedule will be adjusted and then it will affect minor football.  The most logical solution is that Junior games get moved to Commonwealth Stadium if Clarke is not ready for use. 

This is nothing against FC Edmonton. We simply want the guarantees necessary to ensure that minor, high school, and Junior football, who have used Clarke since 1938, will keep their ability to offer a schedule and quality experience for our athletes that we’ve had - and deserve - as a part of the rich tapestry of local sports.  We are simply seeking guarantees like:

•    Being able to book and access Clarke on Tuesdays following FC Edmonton games with the field fully lined, marked and numbered.
•    All the permanent football markings that are currently on Clarke would be painted on the “green field” following FC games.  No reduction of the current lines, markings or numbers would be acceptable.
•    A common sense approach to conflicts that will arise from the inability of the lines to be painted on in the face of weather or staffing issues at Clarke. 

•    A fast tracking of funding to upgrade J.P Bowl to acceptable CJFL standards as well as a solid commitment to build the new facilities at Terwilligar and Londonderry in similar fashions to take some of the pressure off Clarke in conflict situations into the future.

It is our preference to have permanent football lines installed on any new turf that may get approved for Clarke, but failing that it is not an unreasonable request for some guarantees for local football regarding access and Plan B’s in case of conflicts that may arise if the turf is indeed approved for replacing with just soccer lines on it.

If you have a personal relationship with a current councillor, I would ask that you take the time to make a phone call or email to express your concern.

Everyone who played Bantam football last year, regardless of grade, is eligible to try out for their local Alberta Summer Games team. Players who are interested have to register online with Football Alberta and then attend Zone Selection Camps in May.

For more details on the registration process, finding out what zone you are in, and when tryouts begin, please check the Football Alberta website at http://footballalberta.ab.ca/web/programs/summer.php

Once you are registered you will receive more specific information about the times and locations of the camps within a month of the start of the camp. If you have any questions or concerns please contact your Zone Contact listed in the link above. 

The Alberta Summer Games will be held in Airdrie this summer July 24-27. The Summer Games are the only multi-sport Games in the world that includes football! More information about the games can be found here: http://www.albertagames.com/

Also note: Football Canada is now in the process of creating databases for their international programming to follow athletes leading up to football’s potential inclusion in the 2024 Summer Olympics and they are particularly interested in the Grade 9’s or lower. The only way to get on this database is to participate in Provincial programming offered by Football Alberta—which includes the Alberta Summer Games.

The Capital District Minor Football Association and members of the Edmonton Eskimos invite all athletes who are interested in playing Midget football to join them at an open house this Saturday. 

The Midget division is made up of players who are currently in Grades 9, 10 or 11 and eligible to play High School in the fall. 

If you have been playing minor football or thinking about playing in High School, come out to see what the league has to offer.

Date: Saturday, February 1

Time: 9-11am

Location: Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre (Field House http://goo.gl/maps/cCLvQ)

Teams will be using the field house for practice and pre-season games for the first few weeks of the Midget season. 

This is a great opportunity for players and coaches to come see this first-class facility and get a head start on their season.

Four members of the Edmonton Eskimos, QB Jonathan Crompton, DE Odell Willis, LB Eric Samuels, and RB Calvin McCarty, will be on hand to meet the players, sign autographs, throw the ball around, and talk about the Green and Gold.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The City of Edmonton is seeking public input on its “Medium Size Stadium Strategy” regarding potential upgrades to Clarke Park. The discussion revolves around the creation of a new field for soccer and calls for new turf to be installed at Clarke – which would be a good thing.  However, the proposal calls for permanent soccer lines to be put on the field while lines for football would only be painted on “as needed”. 

We believe that any new turf MUST have permanent football lines or else amateur football at all levels has no guaranteed use (especially if it rains or snows which would prevent the temporary lines from being painted on the field). We would be at the mercy of the weather and a promise that they will be painted.

We ask that your take the online survey (it’s only four questions) and when you get to the fourth question indicate that you do not support that permanent soccer lines be placed on the field with only temporary football lines.  You can read the strategy and complete the online survey here: www.edmonton.ca/mediumsizestadium

The survey deadline is Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Clarke Parke has been an essential site for minor football (the only turf field serving North Edmonton), High School, and Junior programs.  Field space is at a premium and any renovation, or changes, to the facility that would prevent football from accessing the field would have a negative impact on the viability of our programs.  We encourage all members to participate and have a voice in continued use of Clarke Park by the football community!