Five young soccer players from Lac La Biche and area had a golden finish to their Tier 3 soccer season.
Jaden Giacobbo, Corwin Schieck, Keagan Gauthier-Schaub and Evan-Lee Alook were all playing on the U-15 Lakeland United regional soccer team at the Tier 3 provincials in Lethbridge over the August 10 weekend. Brody Finnestad earned his gold medal with the U-13 boys Lakeland Dynamo team at the same event.
The regionally-selected United squad has been playing and practicing all summer and is based out of St. Paul. The Dynamo are a regional select team based out of Bonnyville.
All five local players are members of Lac La Biche Minor Soccer Association teams who played the outdoor season at the Tier 4 level. Finnesad’s Lac La Biche team won silver at the Tier 4 provincials in June.
“When regular season is over, some boys want to continue to play. Luckily, we have an opportunity to select the best of Lakeland to form a higher level team in comparison to the Tier 4 the boys have to play during regular season,” said Brody’s mom and Lac La Biche minor soccer coach Tara Finnestad.
Committed to the sport
When it comes to the enjoyment of the sport, the commitment comes from the young athletes — and their families and supporters, says the veteran coach.
“These boys and their parents have to commit lots of time into traveling to practices outside of LLB. This time it was well worth it as the gold represents that the boys are the best in Alberta.”