Niagara-on-the-Lake’s young soccer players laced up their cleats and took to the field at the Virgil Sports Park for their final games of the season last weekend.
The closing festival on Aug. 25 included 11 games, snacks and medals for each player.
To pass time between matches, some kids cooled off in the splash pad while others ran scrimmage games with their teammates.
“Everyone had a ton of fun,” said Jordana Hernder, NOTL Soccer Club registrar.
The 2025 soccer season had 320 players. That equated to six Timbit teams, one U6 team, two U7/U8 teams, three U9/U10 teams, two U11/U12 teams and one U13 to U15 team.
The league also has five travel teams that players can try out for in the fall.
One mom, Jessica Werner, has two players — Amelia in the U7/U8 division and Noah in the U9/U10 division. She said Amelia has been playing for several seasons but this year was Noah’s first.
“He wanted to play soccer and this is the closest league to us … he definitely likes it,” Werner said. “We will come back again.”
For the season’s closing festival, Amelia and Noah’s family showed up to cheer them on from the stands. For Hernder, creating a space where families can participate in the community is one of the pillars of the club.
“A lot of the siblings are in different age categories, so it’s kind of like a big family event,” Hernder said.
Tryouts for the travel teams occur in September, but the registration date for house league has yet to be announced.