BEND, OR -- Bend Parks and Rec faces a shortage of volunteer soccer coaches for this fall. "We have about 2,300 kids playing on 173 teams," says BPRD's Julie Brown, "That bumps up to almost 2,700 if you include the almost 400 that are playing in our kindergarten soccer. That is an all-time high that beat last year’s all-time high, which beat 2019’s all-time high."

She tells KBND News, "We are making use of just about every patch of lawn in every park in town." But it also means there aren’t enough adult volunteers, "We still need about a dozen or so volunteer coaches. So, if anyone is interested in helping, all you need is some very basic knowledge of soccer and about 5 hours a week to dedicate to helping those kids."

A continued lack of referees also means parents may need to help out, "This is a shortage that’s happening across the board; it’s not something that’s just happening here in Bend. And, we do the best that we can with our paid officials," says Brown, "But there are times, especially at the younger grade levels, where sometimes we have to ask parents who are there onsite if they would be willing to be the official for the day, because we just don’t have enough to go around."

If you’re interested in volunteering for Bend Parks and Rec, you’ll find sign-up information on their website. The season starts this month.