The Athabasca Soccer Association played host to its biggest tournament yet last weekend.
Fifty-two teams comprised of approximately 572 kids flooded the soccer fields at Whispering Hills Primary School on Saturday and Sunday to compete in the tournament. Divisions split up the teams based on their age, with U6, U8, U10 and U12 teams all taking to the field.
The weekend also featured a barbeque and a table with raffle prizes.
“I’d really like to thank all the volunteers. It was never going to be successful without them,” said Lorrill Waschuk, a tournament organizer. She also thanked businesses for donating raffle prizes, parents for their continuing support and the referees who took time out of their weekends to help the event run smoothly.
The U6 and U8 kids all received participation medals after their games were over.
“It’s meant to be non-competitive (for them),” explained Waschuk. The U6 and U8 teams played their games on ‘mini fields’.
“They had fun. They’re very cute,” she said.
In the U10 division, it was the Athabasca Predators who won gold thanks to a hard-fought victory over the Athabasca Black Dawgs.
“It was amazing,” she said of the game, which went to a second round of penalty kicks before being decided.
“Everyone was just watching that game. We’ve never had something so close.”
The top U12 girls team was Fort Saskatchewan, with Ardrossan second and Glenn Martin’s Athabasca team third.
In the boys U12 division, Jody Tangedal’s Athabasca team was tops, followed by Jeff Summers’ Athabasca club. Coming in third was the local club coached by Chris Hamlyn.
