Local soccer teams finished their seasons with some hardware.
The U17 and the U13 boys each walked away with a silver medal, while the U15 team captured bronze in provincials from Friday, July 5 to Sunday, July 7.
Hard fought battle for silver
Tyson Watters, head coach for the U17 team, described their final tournament in Fort Saskatchewan as “emotional and dramatic.”
“We had three very difficult pool games, and Camrose had a relatively easy draw. They outscored their opponents 32-1 and we had three very difficult games just to get to the final,” he exclaimed, adding they lost 2-0 to Camrose in the gold medal game.
The weekend was a lesson for the players that some of the best awards in life are earned, the head coach said.
“What’s handed to you, you don’t really cherish that moment. Getting there was something that we talked about all year, so it wasn’t necessarily a surprise that we were going to get there, the challenge was how we had to earn it to get there. It wasn’t going to be given to us, and they took ownership of that.”
Regardless of the outcome, he noted it was a well deserved silver.
“Oftentimes you lose the gold and you feel disappointed. I just tried to reiterate to them that there was nothing to be ashamed of, the effort that was given to get there, during the game, and the entire season, was nothing to be ashamed of,” he expressed. “They earned the silver medal, so I think they get that even though it’s still hard to not come out on top in the biggest tournament of the year, but they’ll understand one day.”
Tied game ends with a coin toss
For the U13 boys, rain forced their gold medal game to be determined by the flip of a coin.
“We were tied 3-3 at the 29th minute, and they delayed the game due to thunder and lightening,” recalled head coach Noah Teixeira. “We waited for about 45 minutes to an hour, and the game was decided by a coin toss.”
Due to the weather, the U13 boys got silver after their game was called due to rain and a coin toss determined they came in second.
Edson walked away with the gold medal in Leduc after a tough choice was made by the head coach.
“The referee said that both teams won it. It was tied, and there’s nothing to be sad about because it was such a good game,” he emphasized.
After a relatively successful season and provincials, their coach was proud of everything the team accomplished.
“I told them to keep their heads up, because this isn’t a bad thing to look back on. It’s just the loss of a coin toss, which was unfortunate.”
Bronze finish for U15 boys
The U15 boys found their own success in provincials, which were hosted in Vermilion. The local team claimed third overall.
“It was a little disappointing because we never lost,” noted Jose Teixeira, assistant coach, adding a tie meant it came down to point differentials.
“It wasn’t because we lost a game, it was because they scored more goals than we did in previous games.”
The team had a strong showing, which Teixeira believes is the result of them all having played together for a few seasons.
“It wasn’t the finish we were looking for, but the experience was still there and we congratulated them on the achievement that they got.”
Teixeira has seen the team improve over the years, and he wasn’t the only coach to notice their hard work. According to him, other teams were complimenting the boys during the tournament.
