Battle River Soccer Academy (BRSA) will be a partnership between École Charlie Killam School and Tom McManus Soccer Development. The program is headed by ÉCKS teacher Kathryn Andrukow. Mrs. Andrukow is from Camrose and has played levels from tier 3 to tier 1 in Edmonton, Red Deer, and Camrose. She played for the University of Alberta Pandas soccer program while attending university, as well as the University of Alberta Augustana Viking soccer program. Coach McManus brings a wealth of high-level coaching experience, including Canada's National Women's Soccer team, numerous Canadian university teams, and Canadian professional teams. Tom is currently the head coach of both the men's and women's soccer teams at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus.
This year there will be a cap of 32 students. This is because of the supervisor to student ratio we wish to keep as 16:1. The intent is for BRSA to operate very much like our established hockey program, where BRSA training sessions will take the place of regular physical education classes. Every week during the second semester (February-June), students in BRSA can expect to receive 2-3 hours of skill development and instruction from Tom McManus and Kathryn Andrukow, as well as two classes devoted to strength and conditioning training. BRSA classes will be scheduled to start before the regular school day and immediately after lunch to facilitate adequate training sessions and transportation, when necessary, while still enabling students to attend their other regularly scheduled classes.
Interest from at least 30 students in Grades 6-8 is needed in order to make the program viable. The cost will be $130 per month, or $650 total. Fees include athlete apparel, coaching costs, facility rentals, classes with other fitness professionals, and equipment.
Please contact Kathryn Andrukow (kandrukow@brsd.ab.ca) if you have any further questions.