Saturday morning’s opening day marked the 34th year that the Warwick Fire Fighters Soccer Club has been in existence. Opening day was pushed back a week because of rain and it was well worth the wait.

Games were played from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“It was a great morning for opening day as the weather was really nice at that time,” Dunn’s Cavity Kickers’ head coach Jason Dorrance said.

His team faced off against Atlantic Family Eye Care in the 11 a.m. game.

“I thought both teams played very well, and everyone seemed to be having fun,” Dorrance said. “The best part of opening day is to see the players, coaches, and parents all come together and have a great time.”

WFFSC president Doyle Byrd expressed his excitement prior to opening day and hoped that the kids would have a lot of fun. 

“I look forward to seeing all the kids with smiles as they enjoy soccer and make new friends," Byrd said. “I also look forward to seeing friends that I might not have seen since the fall season ended.”

The WFFSC started in 1984. It is a town club within U.S. Youth Soccer and has been recognized as the largest club in Rhode Island for the past 2 years. It is non-profit, all volunteer.

This spring there are 44 recreational teams that typically play other WFFSC teams or teams from nearby clubs. There are also 35 competitive teams that play against other clubs in RI.

“There are 430 competitive players and 510 recreational players which is about the same as last year with maybe a few more competitive players this year than last year,” Byrd said.

WFFSC provides three programs with the previously mentioned recreational and competitive programs being two of them. The other program is Referee, where young kids can start refereeing games around the age of 10-11 years old. The children must pass a state training course and in-club training prior to being assigned games.

The club is run by a Board of Directors, many of whom have been on the board for many years, some over 20 years.

“There are many dedicated volunteers within the club, especially the coaches upon whom the club mightily depends to coach the teams,” Byrd made clear.

Byrd further explained that the coaches now must undergo BCI checks, take concussion courses, and take a sexual abuse awareness training program. This is all required before starting the real work of coaching a team.

Many competitive teams enter tournaments up in New Hampshire or on Cape Cod along with many other local teams.

“WFFSC has been sending teams to NH for the past 13 years for a Memorial Day Tournament and this has grown into a tradition for many families,” Byrd said. “The last few years there have been about 25 teams heading up to NH for a weekend of fun.”

The club's home field is Winslow Park, where they have now been for a couple of years after the Rhode Island Airport Corporation relocated the fields due to the airport expansion. They used to play at the old Winslow Park that was at the south end of the airport.