EDMONTON — An Edmonton mother says she's thrilled to see the community rally to support her nine-year-old son's soccer team after its coach dropped out of contact and tens of thousands of dollars vanished.
Lauren Scorgie says the Selects Football Club has been working for two years to raise more than $50,000 to travel to a tournament in Las Vegas.
Speaking to The Canadian Press, she said parents learned Monday that the team hadn't been registered for the event and hotel rooms hadn't been booked.
Scorgie, the assistant coach and team manager, said nobody has been able to contact the head coach and roughly $40,000 is missing from the team's bank account.
"He was at the kids' practice on Sunday, told everyone he'd get everyone the tickets on Monday or Tuesday, and we never heard from him after Monday," she said Thursday.
Edmonton police spokesperson Blaire McCalla confirmed officers received a fraud complaint Monday related to a youth sports team. Attempts to reach the coach by phone, email, social media and text have gone unanswered.
Scorgie said the coach got the team together two years ago to crowdsource money for the Las Vegas Mayor's Cup International Tournament. The kids were excited, she said, holding bottle drives, silent auctions and selling chocolate door-to-door.
After they raised $50,000, she said the coach offered to book flights and hotels on his credit card and be reimbursed by the team. It started in July with $1,500 to register the team for the event, $1,300 for travel insurance, and then $15,000 for plane tickets, she said.
Scorgie said the coach was to provide credit card statements as proof of transaction before taking money from the team bank account.
Last weekend, parents checked the event schedule online — only to discover the team wasn't listed.
Scorgie said she called the coach, who told her he'd take care of things, but the team still wasn't listed on the schedule when he stopped answering parents' calls on Monday.
Upon making some calls to officials in Las Vegas, she learned the team hadn't been registered.
"I don't know why anybody would do that to children," Scorgie said.
After telling the kids what happened, she said parents came together and agreed to start a GoFundMe campaign for the team. As of Thursday, it has raised more than $55,000, including a $4,000 donation from Evander Kane of the Edmonton Oilers.
"Everybody was going off," she said. "When the kids saw that, they're like, 'This is awesome.' It's crazy."
Community groups, businesses and sports organizations have also shown support, she said. The Edmonton Oil Kings have donated tickets for families to watch them play. One restaurant has even offered to throw the kids a pizza party.
Scorgie said the parents plan to give back by using some of the GoFundMe money to help underprivileged kids who can't afford sports fees.
Parents hope the team can attend another soccer competition in Minnesota this summer and the Mayor's Cup next year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2025.
Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press
