Photo: KTW File Photo

While the Kamloops-Thompson School District isn't currently moving forward with a renewed soccer academy, it has committed to gauging interest — and at least one parent says he's eager to make it happen.

From 2010 to 2022, SD73 ran a district-wide soccer academy at the then Brocklehurst Middle School. SD73 said the academy was eventually closed due to declining enrolment and not enough requests to join from students.

At last week’s board of education meeting, Paul Chapman, a parent of two school-aged kids, asked the board to relaunch its high school soccer academy at Brocklehurst as soon as next fall.

SD73 board chair Heather Grieve told Chapman in an emailed response that SD73 wouldn’t be able to move forward with a district soccer academy without further consulting with school administrators, staff, parents and students.

“A board may offer a specialty academy if the board has consulted with the parents' advisory council (PAC) for the school where the board proposes to offer the specialty academy and the board is of the opinion that there is sufficient demand for the specialty academy,” Grieve said, citing SD73 policy.

She said Chapman’s request would be passed along to high school principals to gauge interest.

“If a principal comes forward with a passion to host a soccer academy at their school, District staff would support the principal to consult within their community,” Grieve said.

Speaking with Castanet Kamloops, Chapman said he was still optimistic the academy would come to fruition and he’s formulating a plan to continue advocating.

“I don't think their door is closed to it,” he said. “Now I need to figure out what I should do for my next steps.”

Chapman suggested the academy could be similar to two SD73 hockey academies at Valleyview and Brocklehurst secondary schools, with sport in the morning and academic studies in the later half of the day.

He said the academy could take place in school gyms or Kamloops Soccer Dome during winter months.

He said there are many students in SD73 who are passionate about soccer, some who even hope to go pro, and the academy would allow them to “get more touches on the ball.”

“I think it's just a great sport. They learn teamwork, agility, ongoing skills, life skills more than anything,” Chapman said. “On top of it, they're learning their academics.”

Chapman said he went to the board of education after being told by the principal of South Kamloops Secondary the school was too full and couldn’t facilitate the academy.

He thanked the school district for hearing his case and said he thought there was “huge interest” in SD73.

Chapman said anyone interested in the proposed soccer academy can contact him at [email protected].