Disponible en français ici.
When forming soccer teams we always try to put players on teams so they can be instructed in the language of their choice, French or English. Our challenge is that we regularly lack enough francophone coaches to match the number of French-speaking teams we want to build. If you speak French and can coach a team, please volunteer! A lack of coaching knowledge need not be an issue; we offer coaching courses.
Another issue is that when the shortage of francophone coaches leads to French-speaking teams coached by unilingual English coaches, the players' parent sometimes complain bitterly to our volunteers. We understand their annoyance but complaining to the people who spend so many hours organizing Bonnie Doon soccer is not fair to them; they earnestly try to satisfy language preferences of the players and their parents.
There is a larger problem. The Edmonton Minor Soccer Association (EMSA) has a policy that requires teams to be formed with a mixture of each community's cultures [EMSA policy #G-0311-001, the so called "Equal Opportunity" policy]. In past years when Bonnie Doon has not been able to assign French-speaking coaches to francophone teams, some parents have complained to EMSA. EMSA will not help those parents. To the contrary, citing their Equal Opportunity policy, EMSA has threatened Bonnie Doon with sanctions.
The Bonnie Doon Community League disagrees strongly with EMSA's policy. We try our best to assign players to coaches so that players can be instructed in the official Canadian language of their choice. We regret when we fail at that goal. If you wish to discuss this further, please contact Mark Gordon at [email protected].
If your French-speaking child is assigned a unilingual English coach, you will need to arrange for yourself or a friend to attend practices & games, to translate coaching instructions for your child. Or, you could volunteer to coach!
When forming soccer teams we always try to put players on teams so they can be instructed in the language of their choice, French or English. Our challenge is that we regularly lack enough francophone coaches to match the number of French-speaking teams we want to build. If you speak French and can coach a team, please volunteer! A lack of coaching knowledge need not be an issue; we offer coaching courses.
Another issue is that when the shortage of francophone coaches leads to French-speaking teams coached by unilingual English coaches, the players' parent sometimes complain bitterly to our volunteers. We understand their annoyance but complaining to the people who spend so many hours organizing Bonnie Doon soccer is not fair to them; they earnestly try to satisfy language preferences of the players and their parents.
There is a larger problem. The Edmonton Minor Soccer Association (EMSA) has a policy that requires teams to be formed with a mixture of each community's cultures [EMSA policy #G-0311-001, the so called "Equal Opportunity" policy]. In past years when Bonnie Doon has not been able to assign French-speaking coaches to francophone teams, some parents have complained to EMSA. EMSA will not help those parents. To the contrary, citing their Equal Opportunity policy, EMSA has threatened Bonnie Doon with sanctions.
The Bonnie Doon Community League disagrees strongly with EMSA's policy. We try our best to assign players to coaches so that players can be instructed in the official Canadian language of their choice. We regret when we fail at that goal. If you wish to discuss this further, please contact Mark Gordon at [email protected].
If your French-speaking child is assigned a unilingual English coach, you will need to arrange for yourself or a friend to attend practices & games, to translate coaching instructions for your child. Or, you could volunteer to coach!
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