COUNTRY 107’s Dave Anthony kicked off the Ten Town Tour this week to highlight communities and support youth sports across the southeast, thanks to Xplore.  

For the first stop, we visited Smitty’s in Steinbach and gifted Hanover Soccer a $250 cheque from Xplore for their program. 

Hanover Soccer President Norm Anderson is excited about another full season and notes that their categories will range from “U5 all the way up to adults.” 

He says that it has been “fantastic” to witness the growth of the sport in the area, especially in the girls’ program. 

“Coming from a soccer country in Scotland and we started with around 100 kids in our program and now we're up to over close to 400,” Anderson explains. “We feel that the biggest growth has been in the girls' game, and we are working hard to try and get more female coaches to assist us with female teams. The numbers look to be steadily increasing and that's all got to do with the performance at the top end."

He encourages anyone to try out the sport regardless of their skill level. 

“Soccer is definitely the most inexpensive sport. Equipment is very minimal, cost is very minimal compared to other sports, but it's the activity we want the kids to have fun with. Being a safe environment and we are inclusive, we take any kind of player, you don't have to be a terrific player. You can be an average player, a beginner player, it doesn't matter. We will find a spot for you.” he says. 

Registration is now open until the first week of April. More details can be found on the Hanover Soccer website. 

Anderson adds that the cheque will be going towards their brand-new U-12 boys' team’s uniforms and “maybe some extra snacks at the end of the game.” 

On Wednesday, March 15, the COUNTRY 107 Morning Show with Dave Anthony will be at Grunthal Lumber from 9 AM to 11 AM. Learn more about our future stops here. 

With files from Dave Anthony.