St. Albert Impact Explained

Clubname:St. Albert Impact FC
Fullname:St. Albert Soccer Association Impact Football Club
Stadium:Riel Recreation Park
Mgrtitle:Women's Head Coach
Manager:Dean Cordeiro
League:League1 Alberta
Season:2024
Position:L1AB, 4th(men)
L1AB, 6th (women)
Website:https://www.stalbertsoccer.com/
Current:2024 League1 Alberta season

St. Albert Soccer Association Impact FC, commonly known as St. Albert Impact FC or SASA Impact FC is a Canadian soccer team based in St. Albert, Alberta that plays in the men's and women's division of League1 Alberta.

History

The St. Albert Soccer Association was founded in 1999 as a youth soccer club.[1] The club is one of seven Alberta clubs to be a Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) National Youth License Member.[2]

In 2021, the club joined the US-based pro-am United Women's Soccer as an expansion franchise,[3] [4] becoming the league's second Canadian club after Calgary Foothills WFC.[5] The team's budget is $100,000-$150,000 depending on travel.[6] Their initial season was in jeopardy, after missing the deadline to be approved by the Canadian Soccer Association to apply for cross-border play, but after being given a 24 hour extension, they were able to complete their registration.[7] For their initial season, they were to play a shortened six-game season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] In their debut match, on July 2, they defeated Calgary Foothills 1–0.[9] The match was the first all-Canadian UWS match.[10] Ultimately they were only able to play four of the six matches for the season.

In 2023, they joined the newly founded League1 Alberta, with teams in both the men's and women's division and would participate in the 2023 League1 Alberta Exhibition Series, ahead of the league's anticipated formal launch in 2024.[11] During the exhibition series, the men finished second in the regular season stage, before being defeated in the championship final by the Calgary Foothills, while the women's team finished first in the regular season stage, before being defeated by the Calgary Blizzard on penalty kicks in the championship final.[12]

Seasons

Men

SeasonLeagueTeamsRankPlayoffsRef
2023League1 Alberta Exhibition Series53–2–32ndFinalists
2024League1 Alberta76–3–34thdid not qualify

Women

SeasonLeagueDivisionTeamsRankPlayoffsRef
2021United Women's SoccerWest Conference52–0–23rddid not qualify[13]
202264–1–53rddid not qualify[14]
2023League1 Alberta Exhibition Series57–0–11stFinalists
2024League1 Alberta74–2–67thnot held

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Club Profile – St. Albert Impact Football Club. Alberta Youth Soccer League.
  2. Web site: The Week in Women's Football: Riise takes over England; UWS adds teams for 2021; Ludlow leaves Wales. Tribal Football. Tim. Grainey. January 2021.
  3. Web site: Oh Canada! West Welcomes SASA Impact FC. January 6, 2021. United Women's Soccer.
  4. Web site: St. Albert to host Canada's second women's pro-am soccer team. Kevin. Ma. January 9, 2021. St. Albert Today.
  5. Web site: New pro-am soccer team coming to St. Albert. Adam. Cook. CTV News. January 29, 2021.
  6. Web site: Women's international pro-am soccer coming to St. Albert. Derek. Van Diest. January 7, 2021. Edmonton Sun.
  7. Web site: St. Albert Impact prepare to make their mark on the United Women's Soccer league. July 2, 2021. Preston. Hodgkinson. St. Albert Today.
  8. Web site: St. Albert women’s soccer team looking to make major impact in inaugural pro-am season. Slav. Kornik. Global News. June 13, 2021.
  9. Web site: Impact victorious over Foothills FC in United Women's Soccer opener. Preston. Hodgkinson. July 8, 2021. St. Albert Today.
  10. Web site: Calgary's Foothills WFC back in action for first time since 2019. CityNews. July 2, 2021. Sandra. Prusina.
  11. Web site: League1 Alberta Exhibition Series confirms participating clubs for 2023. March 10, 2023. OneSoccer.
  12. Web site: Inaugural League1 Alberta Champions Crowned In Weekend Showdown. Nelson. Mahmoudi. July 30, 2023. Northern Tribune.
  13. Web site: 2021 UWS Standings. https://web.archive.org/web/20211005011638/https://uwssoccer.com/standings/. United Women's Soccer. October 5, 2021. usurped.
  14. Web site: 2022 UWS Standings. https://web.archive.org/web/20220721204928/https://uwssoccer.com/standings/. United Women's Soccer. July 21, 2022. usurped.