Soccer Nets

 

Rich Valley Elementary is a charming rural school located in Lac Ste Anne County near the hamlet of Rich Valley.  Our school is home to roughly 125 students from 75 families in the area. While we are a small school we have BIG spirit, last year the school branded themselves as the Rich Valley Rhinos and every Thursday children proudly sport their school mascot on clothing item.  The school was built in 1954 and has been a pillar for the community.  As with many older facilities there have been numerous repairs and renovations necessary over the years to meet the current needs.  In recent years the Rich Valley School (RVS) parents have fundraised through the RVS Enhancement Society to install new basketball poles, boards and nets and a new climbing structure and slide. These structures replaced equipment that had to be removed due to deteriorated safety and functionality. The next item that is on the long list of recreation wants and development projects for the Rich Valley School and community are the soccer nets on our grounds.  Maintaining and developing the outdoor facilities at RVS is important because it is the only publicly accessible youth recreation facility in our community and every community deserves a safe area for youth to be allowed to play. 

 

We currently have four outdoor soccer nets that are constructed of drill stem pipe with exposed concrete at the tops.  One of the net’s top poles has been damaged and bent (it is now a safety concern) and none of the nets are regulation size.  The nets were “grandfathered” in to be allowed on the playground even though they are not Canadian Standards Approval (CSA) approved.  Now that one of the poles is broken so badly, we are unable to repair or replace just part of them since they are not CSA certified and cannot be used beyond their lifetime.  The soccer area is used by many of our students and community members throughout the year and we believe would be utilized far more if we had safe nets that were regulation size.  We have gotten a quote from Sportfactor for new Kwik Goal brand nets which will cost $5,000 each which includes shipping but not installation.  The SANG community competition funds would allow us to replace the current 4 soccer nets with proper soccer goals that have ground sleeves with locks.  Having proper ground sleeves  and anchors would allow us to remove the nets in the winter for storage so as to increase the lifetime use of the equipment by not leaving it exposed year round to the elements.  The total cost projected for this project is $25,000 for materials plus installation and taxes.  One piece at a time we have been successful in bringing the 1954 facility into the future.  Thank you for considering our school and community for the SCEF Community Competition.