DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION
After not having a field specifically dedicated to soccer, Fort Resolution will soon have two.

Chief Louis Balsillie of Deninu Ku'e First Nation stands in a Deninu School field that the band is helping to upgrade to a soccer pitch. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The new soccer pitches, which have developed independently of each other, should both be ready within a month and a half.

One is being constructed by the Hamlet of Fort Resolution, while the other, a project spearheaded by Deninu Ku'e First Nation, will be on a large field behind Deninu School.

The field at the school is being upgraded using $25,000 in community infrastructure funding from De Beers Canada.

However, Chief Louis Balsillie of DKFN wonders why there are two projects.

"There's going to be two soccer fields in Fort Res, population of 400 and something. I don't know why we just don't concentrate on one area," he said, referring to the field on school property.

"It's all fenced in and safe for kids."

Balsillie said he had asked a few hamlet councillors why they were proceeding with a soccer field instead of concentrating on the field at the school.

"We just about pulled it away because of the hamlet," he said of the funding for the school field.

"But then (band) council was looking at it and saying, well, it's going to be beneficial because it's already fenced in and kids could play on here right away."

Fort Resolution Mayor Garry Bailey sees no problem with the two simultaneous projects.

"I think having two soccer pitches is fine," he said.

For one thing, the mayor said, two fields might help bring people to community in the future for soccer tournaments.

Bailey noted the hamlet's soccer field has been planned for a while and work started last summer.

"I can't control what the school is doing," he said.

"The school is the one that's actually doing their own soccer pitch and they just come up with that this year."

The mayor said the hamlet even provided equipment to the school to help with its project.

Bailey said the hamlet is putting about $100,000 into its soccer field project, which includes building a pad and laying down black dirt and sod.

"We're hoping within four to six weeks we should have it all ready," he said.

The hamlet is building its soccer pitch near the Fort Resolution Youth Centre on a large piece of land which also features a biking area and may eventually include a tennis court and ball field.

Currently, young people in Fort Resolution play soccer on a softball diamond and in the gym of Deninu School.

Balsillie hopes the soccer field at Deninu School will be completed by the first week in June.

The chief said sod is expected to start arriving from High Level, Alta. on May 21 and it will be laid on the field after it is levelled and prepared with the assistance of the Department of Public Works and Services.

Kate Powell, principal of Deninu School, said the field behind the school has been basically unusable for at least the six years she has worked in the community.

"It's full of potholes and it was ungraded," she said.

"To be honest, you couldn't even take a group of students out there really to play baseball or anything. It was really, really rough."

Powell remembers she and the previous principal have tried to get the field upgraded in the past.

"The aim is really for us to have a soccer field there that the kids could use at any time," she said.

"It will look like a soccer field, but it will definitely be multi-purpose. We'll use it for gym class, for after-school activities."

Powell praised Balsillie for his help in getting the field upgraded, saying he has done an "amazing" job at pushing things through so quickly.

"It's always really hard to get things co-ordinated and get everything going, but he's managed to do that," she said.

As for the fact Fort Resolution will now have two soccer fields, Powell said her job is to make sure the facilities at the school are the best they can be for students.

"They love soccer," she said.

"They absolutely love it."

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