LAKELAND - The tier 4 outdoor soccer season has now wrapped up for Lakeland District soccer teams, with rural provincials taking place in Leduc July 4-6.
Seven teams travelled to compete in the provincial tournament, and each of the seven teams brought home a medal.
But, according to Lakeland District Soccer president Josh Phillips, the 2025 outdoor provincial competition was “bittersweet” for the district.
“The district sent a team in all seven of the competition categories at provincials, and all seven of the teams came home with a medal. Those results are unprecedented and show that the district is healthy and competitive in all categories,” says Phillips.
He says, “Much of the district’s success at provincials can be attributed to healthy local competition within the district. Most of our age categories had very tight competition locally throughout the season, with multiple teams clinching a playoff berth by winning one-goal games, winning on penalty kicks, or advancing through goal differential.”
Having stiff competition within the district “has increased our level of play to the point that we are always a threat at the provincial level.”
Offering an example, Phillips stated that the U15 girls’ team from Bonnyville that won gold did so after being in a three-way tie with St. Paul and the other Bonnyville U15 girls’ team at Lakeland Cup, which took place in June.
“It could be argued that the road to get to provincials was more difficult for them than the actual provincial tournament,” said Phillips.
He also attributes the success of the Lakeland-based soccer teams on communities that are willing to work together to ensure there are teams to send to provincials. Clubs had to work together to field teams following the COVID-19 pandemic, due to lower registration numbers.
“That cooperation has continued to this day, as the U17 and U19 teams that represented us at provincials were the result of clubs working together to form teams."
And despite all teams bringing home medals, there were some bumps in the road, according to Phillips. Two days before the tournament, the district was notified that the U19 girls’ category would not be going ahead due to a lack of teams, “which is a testament to our district’s strength but also highlights the shortcomings of other rural districts.”
“For many of us, this was a black cloud that hung over the district for the entirety of the tournament, especially as some of those U19 girls were still in attendance to watch their friends and siblings compete,” says Phillips.
Both the U17 boys and U19 boys ended the provincial tournament without a loss, but still only came away with bronze and silver medals, respectively.
“Both teams had extremely successful seasons and were expected to compete for the top spot. To come home without a loss but no gold medal was a tough pill to swallow for both teams,” says Phillips, who is hopeful that situations like this will prompt changes regarding the tournament format.
And perhaps that biggest disappointment was for the Bonnyville U13 girls, who got caught up in a situation that resulted in plenty of confusion and a silver medal finish.
“In the gold medal, the score was tied at the end of regulation,” explains Phillips. The head referee decided to determine the game with penalty kicks, rather than playing two extra 10-minute halves, despite protests from the Bonnyville coaches.
Bonnyville won on penalty kicks and celebrated what they thought was a gold medal victory, says Phillips.
“The losing team successfully protested the result, and Alberta Soccer sent the teams back out to the field to finish the game using the proper format (two extra 10-minute halves).”
The score once again remained tied, and once again the teams were forced to determine a winner by penalty kicks.
“This time, the Bonnyville girls lost, resulting in a heart-breaking silver medal,” says Phillips.
Despite the challenges, Lakeland Soccer District is “very proud of our teams and clubs,” and Phillips says the district will be pushing for improvements in the provincial tournament format in the future.
Winning gold at this year’s Tier 4 rural provincials was the U15 girls' team from Bonnyville.
Taking home silver medals were the U13 girls from Bonnyville, U15 boys from St. Paul, U17 girls from St. Paul-Vegreville, and the U19 boys Lakeland United team.
Bringing home bronze medals were the U13 boys from St. Paul, and the U17 boys from Bonnyville-Lac La Biche.
Tier 3 season begins
And just as the Tier 4 season wraps up, the Tier 3 soccer season in the Lakeland begins.
Lakeland FC teams in the U13, U15 and U17 age categories for both boys and girls have been created. The teams are made up of soccer players from across the district.
Many Lakeland FC teams took part in the Warrior Invitational in Edmonton, July 11-13.
The U13 boys, U13 girls, and U15 boys' teams earned gold medals. The U15 girls won silver, and the U17 boys finished in fifth place at the Edmonton tournament.
The U17 girls did not take part in the tournament but also played games over the weekend, coming away with a win, tie and a loss.
Lakeland FC teams will participate in Tier 3 provincials, scheduled to take place in Sherwood Park, Aug. 8-10.
