Saskatoon walking soccer program brings exercise at a low-impact pace
CBC
If there's a highlight reel goal, you likely won't need to watch it in slow motion.
But that doesn't mean the players aren't competitive.
More than a dozen walking soccer players move around the pitch at the Saskatoon Sports Centre as fast as they can without breaking into a run.
"Unfortunately, for guys that have played the game for year,s and ladies that have played the game for years, it's difficult to just walk," said David Taylor, 78, one of the player-organizers of Saskatoon's drop-in walking soccer program.
Most of the players who show up to the drop-in program are retired — though there are some younger players — but old age hasn't worn down their grit.
As Taylor spoke with CBC, people scurried around the pitch behind him at the quickest pace allowed and yelled orders to their teammates.
"One of the major differences is that when you pass a ball in regular soccer you pass it in front of the person, probably two or three feet sometimes, so they can run onto it. In walking soccer, you pass to their feet because you can't get to it otherwise," said Taylor.
There are some other rule changes from traditional soccer, beyond walking: the ball has to stay below the shoulders, the net is much smaller net and goalies must stay within a semi-circle zone that surrounds the net.
For now, walking soccer is just a drop-in program in Saskatoon. In other cities across Canada, like Lethbridge, Alta., or Guelph, Ont., the lower-impact sport has developed into leagues.
Taylor said he's hoping to expand the sport and bring in more women, who make up a relatively small portion of players.
Jodi Blackwell, CEO of the Saskatoon Soccer Centre, said the drop-in program was developed to feed the interest of people who had heard of the sport, but never played it.
Blackwell said the end goal is to have a structured league.
While the Saskatoon program has been operating for about four years, the national Canadian Walking Soccer Association (CWSA) has only been active for about two.
Bilal Sami, director at the CWSA, said it began as a passion project to bring together isolated leagues across the country under one banner.
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