Dave Leaderhouse
Herald Staff
There have been a lot of changes in the Prince Albert Youth Soccer Association in the last five years, but one thing that remained constant was the leadership at the top.
As the organization’s president, Rory McIntosh has seen the group move from a shared facility to the Alfred Jenkins Field House, an increase in participation numbers and the implementation of a technical director to help continue with the progression of the sport in Prince Albert.
McIntosh says the changes have all made the sport that much more attractive and he is pleased with the state of the game as he hands over the reins to Tim Earing, who defeated him in elections held at the recent annual general meeting.
“I think I achieved most of the things I wanted to accomplish,” said McIntosh recently. “I feel I led the association in a direction that benefits the soccer community.”
Soccer players, parents and fans certainly have benefitted from McIntosh’s involvement, but he insists he isn’t leaving; just the role will be different.
“I’m still a director for another year,” says McIntosh, who will sit on the board as the past-president. “I will be around to advise and help Tim when necessary.”
“After that I will put my name back in again,” added McIntosh.
Earing realizes he has big shoes to fill, but having been on the board for three years as a director, he is familiar with the direction the group is heading.
“I think all members should take some of that responsibility,” notes Earing of his selection as president. “The president is like the lightning rod on a roof, but I think it will be a good experience being the leader of this group.”
As the president, he will work closely with the nine other board members along with office manager Mitzi Pytlak and newly hired technical director Sean Riggs. Together they will utilize the processes that are in place, and come up with other methods, to continue to improve the game.
“One thing I would like to do is be more involved with the schools,” says Earing. “We can do a lot of programming together. For example, if a player is in track and field and one day they are doing sprints, why would we have them come here and do more sprints?”
Earing also indicated that he would like see Prince Albert become a soccer power in the province and more players being selected to provincial programs.
Those are lofty goals, but with what McIntosh and past boards put in place, Earing will now have the responsibility, for at least the next year, to see that those goals are achieved.
