As a life long soccer enthusiast, the new St. Albert Minor Soccer Association executive director is excited to be part of the flourishing St. Albert soccer community.
Chris Spaidal has just finished his second week on the job at SAMSA and has been enjoying his time so far as part of the St. Albert soccer community.
“There are lots of good things to come in to and a lot of really well-minded soccer people in the community,” Spaidal said. “It’s an enticing community to move to and be a part of.”
Spaidal is originally from Victoria where he grew up playing soccer. He spent the last nine years as the executive director for the Grande Prairie Soccer Association as well as coaching the men’s and women’s college teams before moving his family to St. Albert.
So far Spaidal has been a careful observer of the organization and is just trying to adjust to the day-to-day routines in his new environment.
“It’s such a good organization to be a part of that I don’t want to come in and try and reinvent the wheel,” Spaidal said. “I want to just to learn and understand all the things that have been a strength in the past to try to keep and build on those.”
Part of the new arrival’s vision for the soccer association is to raise the standard of play in both the grassroots community teams and within the club.
“I would like to have the higher end competitive stream as a desirable place for competitive, top-level club kids to come and want to be a part of and not have to leave at some point,” Spaidal said. “It is not going to take a whole lot of change and just some minor tweaking.”
Spaidal’s focus goes beyond club soccer, with a large emphasis paid to empowering community coaches to help give the grassroots players the best experience possible while playing in St. Albert. Given his own extensive experience and involvement with soccer, his goals for the soccer association may be very achievable.
Born in Victoria, Spaidal played for Tier I soccer for his local community. He went on to attend both Malaspina University-College and Grande Prairie Regional College and represented both schools at the collegiate level. Spaidal then graduated to his role of executive director of the Grande Prairie Soccer Association where he stayed for nine years.
Along with being a well-seasoned player and experienced executive director, Spaidal has an expansive coaching record and is a Canadian National B recognized coach. He has spent time coaching many teams at the provincial level as well as coaching for his alma mater although hasn’t decided if he will step into the same role in St. Albert.
“It’s yet to be decided if I want to be involved in coaching again until I’m settled into the executive director role because I want to make sure I can manage my time properly as needed,” Spaidal said.
Despite the uncertainty, the St. Albert community will gain a new coach from the Spaidal family. Spaidal’s wife Katie, a teacher, is a skilled soccer player and experienced Provincial B level coach who will certainly be looking to join the coaching crew in the new community.
Along with his wife, Spaidal brought along his 15-year-old soccer playing son Kobe and his nine-and-a-half month old daughter Reily. The whole family is looking forward to being part of the St. Albert soccer community
“I’m just really excited to be here and looking forward to meeting new faces and creating new relationships with those in the community who love to be involved in this game,” Spaidal said.
