WHEATLAND – The Platte County Parks and Recreation department put the soccer goals, balls and equipment into hibernation for another year as the last goal of the season was scored but will not be forgotten.

As Steve Pollock was putting up the nets for the final games of the year, he said, “It was full and numbers have been up for the past five or six years. I mean, it just exploded. Kassidy is the one who really spearheads things and there was a lot of work for her getting volunteer coaches and scheduling, she does such a good job.”

Cyndi Eaton who was one of the parents and a volunteer coach was on the fields early playing frisbee catch with her dog Max and loosening up before the final game against “The maroon team.”

“The soccer league has been good,” she said. “Our group is 3^rd through 5^th grade. This will be our fourth game. Just seeing the kids love of soccer is great.”

The participation was up from last year and according to Parks and Recreation director Kassidy O’Harrow there were over 200 kids that played this year.

“It’s bigger than ever,” O’Harrow said. “There were 27 teams and we ran games for four weeks and practices for two weeks before that, so it was a six-week program. We have two Glendo teams, Two Chugwater teams and then the rest are Wheatland teams. We have kindergarten division, we have a first and second grade division, we have a third through fifth-grade division and then we have a sixth through eighth-grade division.”

They didn’t do tournaments or championships this year, according to O’Harrow and it was one of the outdoor programs that COVID has not affected.