Athabasca’s U15 boys soccer team continues to shine at the provincial level after taking gold at their two most recent tournaments.
On June 1-3 at the Camrose Night Classic, and at an earlier May 25-27 district tournament in Sherwood Park, Athabasca FC swept in and did not suffer a single loss.
During the first two games in Camrose, Athabasca just slaughtered the Hinton Rainbow Goats and the Rocky Mountain House Knights by scores of 11-zero and 8-zero, respectively.
Team Manager Amy Walling confirmed that while these were the actual scores of their two games, both scores will be listed as 5-zero for the tournament’s records.
“They did have a mercy rule in effect for both games,” Walling said. “This means they can not be But their next two games, both against St. Paul United, proved to be a bit of a challenge.
Game Three was a little closer, when the team edged out St. Paul United 2-1 during their night-time game June 2 at 11 p.m.
“The players usually have a great time playing in Camrose,” Walling said. “They really like playing their evening game, after the sun sets and they play under the field lights. It’s quite an interesting experience for them.”
In the final, they were up against St. Paul once again, and it was also decided by a single point. But Athabasca FC once again prevailed, with Jacob Hayward scoring a penalty shot with 56 seconds left in the game, which made the final score 3-2.
Walling’s son, Evan, scored a total of seven points during the tournament.
“I am really proud of how he played,” she said. “I had no idea they were keeping track of how many scores each player recorded during the tournament, but my son got the highest for Athabasca FC. And I am really happy for him.”
Fellow players Ashton Funk and Jack Wigham rounded out the top three for the team at the tournament, with 5 and 4 goals, respectively.
But even still, Walling said in both tournaments, all the players did well.
"Each of them really played their heart out," said Walling. "I can not really signal out any one player who did well, because they all played hard for their team, and both times in the end, they got the job done."
In Sherwood Park, Athabasca FC beat the Whitecourt Warriors in that tournament’s final by a score of 5-1 on May 27. Earlier in the day, they had edged out Drayton Valley United 2-1 in the semi-final.
During the first two games in Sherwood Park, they beat Sherwood Park 5-nothing, and then also blanked Stony Plain 1-nothing.
Athabasca FC is also set to take part in the Tier IV Servus Credit Union Rural provincial tournament from July 6-8 in Carstairs.
“I do not know if the team will take the championship this year,” said Walling. “But it should be a great tournament nonetheless. The way the team has been playing, I think we should do quite well.”
Athabasca U13 Spartans win bronze at both tournaments
The Athabasca U13 Spartans may not have taken home the gold medal, but they did get bronze in both of their tournaments.
In Camrose, the team went 2-and-1 one in their round robin, as they beat the Wetaskiwin Strikers 4-1, lost 6-1 to the Whitecourt Warriors, and then beat the Pigeon Lake Tigers 3-2.
Their performance put them in the bronze medal match-up against Pigeon Lake, where they won by a convincing 6-2 margin.
Earlier at the district tournament in Sherwood Park, they beat Sherwood Park's Team 1 by a 2-1 score, but then lost their semi-final against the Edson Vipers 3-nothing.
But in the bronze medal match-up, they outscored St. Paul 4-1.
Coach Johnny Heroux said the children had a blast, with Brandon Phillips making the Top Six list of scorers with six points.
"Everyone really picked up their game throughout the tournament in Camrose," Heroux said. "Starting with first game, the team was a little sloppy. In the second game, they were very sloppy, but by the bronze medal game, the team was very structured."
At both of the tournaments, Heroux said that overall, it was very much a team effort.
"Teams from Athabasca typically do very well at these tournaments," he said. "The community really does have a great soccer program, and are very competitive in the Tier 4 program."
The Whitecourt Warriors got gold in both the U13 tournaments, while the Ponoka Storm got silver in Camrose, and Edson got silver in Sherwood Park.
Heroux added that even though they do play in a boys league, they have lots of girls playing for them as well.
"Yes we are a mixed team," he said. "And the girls on our team are doing quite well."
Each year, Heroux said the Spartans typically start out by playing rural-teams, and then go out and play at the bigger tournaments.
"It's often more competitive when we go to a tournament," he said. "The team becomes so much stronger as they learn to play a more structured game."
He added that soccer season usually starts at the end of April, and usually goes until the end of June.
Up next for the Spartans is the Tri-county Cup tournament in Ardrossan June 16-17.
"The winner of this tournament will move on to provincials," Heroux said. "Teams who participate in this tournament includes Athabasca, Westlock, Ardrossan, Morinville, Bon Accord, Thorhild, Smoky Lake, as well as Tofield."
U11 Teams Play in Camrose
Athabasca's U11 teams also took the trip to Camrose June 1-3.
The Mischief Makers participated in Pool A, while the Warriors were in Pool B.
While neither team won a medal, Warriors manager Amy Walling said they had quite the challenge at they tournament.
"The Warriors got one win and two losses," she said. "But even though they lost, they definitely put up a good fight, and they played hard. The last team that they played, we did not see a chance that the Spartans would win, but they just had a blast."
The Warriors first fell 6-5 to Camrose, but they then blasted Rocky Mountain House 6-1. But in their last round robin game, the fell 6-1 to Bentley.
Despite the losses, one player, Kaiden Wood, did make the Top 6 leading scorers for Pool B. He came in at number five with 8 points.
The Mischief Makers did not win a single game. They got just one tie and two losses.
