If there’s a highlight reel goal, you likely won’t┬аneed to watch it in slow motion.
But that doesn’t mean the players aren’t┬аcompetitive.
More than a dozen walking soccer players move around the pitch at┬аthe Saskatoon Sports Centre┬аas 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,┬аit’s difficult to just walk,” said David Taylor, 78, one of the player-organizers of Saskatoon’s drop-in walking soccer program.
Saskatoon’s walking soccer drop-in program is one of many fielded across the province as the sport’s popularity rises.
Most of the players who show up to the drop-in program are retired тАФ though there are some younger players тАФ but old age hasn’t worn down┬аtheir 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┬аsoccer, beyond walking: the ball has to stay below the shoulders, the net is much smaller net┬аand goalies must stay within a semi-circle zone that surrounds the net.
For now, walking soccer is just a drop-in program┬аin Saskatoon. In other cities across Canada, like Lethbridge, Alta., or Guelph, Ont., the lower-impact sport has developed into leagues.
Taylor said┬аhe’s hoping to expand the sport and bring in more women, who┬аmake up a relatively small portion of players.
Jodi Blackwell, CEO of the Saskatoon Soccer Centre,┬аsaid 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┬аit┬аbegan as a passion project to bring together isolated leagues across the country under one banner.┬а
He┬аsaid the sport has grown in the past decade, especially in Europe and the United Kingdom where there’s a more established club system. In 2023, the CWSA organized┬аa team to compete in the World Nations Cup, held by the Federation of International Walking Football Associations. It only had two months to prepare┬аand placed fourth among about 12 teams.
“When we went, we didn’t even know if we’d score a goal. We ended up scoring a lot of goals,” he said.
Sami said there has been a growing interest in soccer and┬аwalking soccer provides that outlet to play for seniors and people with mobility issues.
“I know personal stories, even from players who played on the World Cup team, who have had procedures and surgeries that, at the time, they felt like they may not even be able to walk again,” Sami said.
Sami said several hundred people are playing in leagues across Canada.
One of the CWSA’s goals is to host a national tournament with clubs and enthusiasts from across the country.
