Cold fall weather doesn't chill Wareham Youth Soccer players’ enthusiasm to compete. Every Saturday morning children ages four to 13 arrive at the fields of the John W. Decas school to score some goals. 

The Wareham Youth Soccer club provides a fun, safe and healthy soccer environment for every kid in town. Although coach Roy Veugen noted that teaching children to work as a team rather than "just chasing the ball” is among the most challenging parts of coaching, the players quickly pick up the pace. 

“The idea is for them to start understanding how to communicate during the play and work together to achieve the goal," said Veugen. "But we try to keep the learning process fun."

Coach and club President Bob Catarius added that he not only teaches children to “have the ball at [their] feet as often as possible” but also control it. 

Besides introducing children to essential sports skills, the club serves as a “huge community builder.”

“At the end of the day, our program builds a sense of community. All these kids see each other at school. They all help each other, they work together for grades, it is great,” said Veugen. 

Eleven-year-old Sebastian Sutkus and his teammate Barbero, who have been playing soccer since the age of five, said their enthusiasm for this sport never diminished over time. 

“It’s fun and competitive,” said Barbero. “I like playing offense because I love running and kicking the ball and I have a hard kick. I just started playing goalie and I am good at catching the ball.”

Sutkus, who enjoys playing defense as well as a goalie, added that “soccer is fun and it’s a very good cardio.” 

The club’s days of playing at the Decas School fields will soon be over as Fall Town Meeting voters recently approved spending $40,000 to create five new soccer fields for the club.

The fields will be located on the Westfield property at 98 Charlotte Furnace Rd. in West Wareham. The club has raised an additional $30,000 for the project. The funds will also be used to create a new parking lot and to purchase goals, other miscellaneous equipment, and a storage shed.

For more information about the Wareham Youth Soccer team, go to warehamsoccer.com. Contact Travel Director Paul Neely with questions at pneely@fairvu.com or 774-274-0687.