Volunteer Casey Hadley

by Susan Hofforth

Casey Hadley is enjoying his life in Whitecourt, coaching soccer and giving back to the community.

He has lived here for four years now, coming to town because of a transfer by his company Kal-Tire. He thinks Whitecourt is a great town to live in. “It’s a town built around families,” he said. “There is always something to do — soccer, the Wolverines, Rotary Park. It’s great for family activities.”

Hadley has been coaching soccer since his youngest daughter was six. “That was my first meeting here in town. I wanted to find out what soccer was all about here.” And he has been involved ever since. He coaches and helps to run the soccer camp, Athletes in Action, with the Whitecourt Baptist Church. The program began with 50 kids, and has grown to 100. He sat on the board for a while, but stepped down to involve himself more in the coaching.

His Girls Under-12 team took Provincial Gold last year, and Hadley called it, “One of the best moments of my life.” His daughter Claudia was in goal and she played a shut-out game. His other daughter, Maren, played centre and scored the final goal.

But this year, the U14 tournament will need more of his coaching time. It’s a bigger field and a lot more training.

He was inspired to get involved with the Whitecourt Minor Soccer Association because of his daughters. “They were involved, and instead of being one of those complaining parents, I decided to get involved myself.”

He had been a soccer player when he was younger, and then a referee. He learned most of his coaching through Youtube but then took a coaching clinic, which he said was a real eye-opener for him.

“The best thing I learned is that as a coach you have to see the team as a family,” he said. “You can’t see them as individuals. That has been the key to our success.”