Athabasca Soccer Association teams are have been through a couple of weeks of play in their respective leagues.
The Athabasca U16 Girls Black Widows are off to a quick start in the Edmonton Minor Soccer Association league, winning all four of their first round of scheduled games.
This comes despite the fact that the Widows have only had one sub available each game, and that snow earlier this month. The snow forced the team to reschedule a game into an already busy schedule, playing in Edmonton three days in a row.
“The girls have worked hard for their top finish of this round and should stand proud of their team effort,” team spokesperson Jenene Ganske said.
The next round of scheduled games will pool the Widows with other top teams in other EMSA groups.
The Athabasca U16 Boys Titans are back in the Tri-County Soccer Association league this season after playing in Edmonton last year.
So far the team is undefeated, but coach Shelly Younker said it’s too early to read much into those results.
“All of the teams need to get playing together and see how they do,” she said. “Everybody’s got to get playing as a team.”
The U16 Titans have upcoming tournaments scheduled in Sherwood Park, Edmonton and Camrose.
The Athabasca U14 Girls Avengers are competing in the Edmonton Minor Soccer Association West Zone league this year.
“It’s a good league because there’s 17 teams, and after five games they put you into three groups, and after five (more) games their re-tier it,” coach Travis Semashkewich explained. “By the start of the third round, the games are very close and very competitive (because) … you’re pretty much playing teams the same calibre as you.”
The Avengers finished the first round with a record of 2-2 with one game cancelled due to weather.
“I imagine we’re going to end up in the middle group,” Semashkewich said.
Player development is progressing nicely, he added.
“It’s going good,” he said. “The girls are really starting to improve after only playing four games.”
Playing in the Tri-County Soccer Association league, the Athabasca U14 Boys Titans FC has yet to face any stiff opposition.
“It’s a challenge, because we aren’t being challenged,” coach Glenn Martin said.
Of their three games so far, the closest was a 4-1 victory over Ardrossan. The other two were lopsided shutouts.
Martin said his concern is that without strong opposition, the Titans will find it difficult to improve and will be unprepared when the enter tournaments.
“I can’t wait until we lose 10-0,” he quipped.
Martin said he understands the difficulty Tri-County faces. “They’re trying their best to keep soccer at the higher levels alive.”
Yet his concern remains that an uncompetitive league is stifling player development. “Maybe competing as a tournament team might have been a (better) option, in hindsight.”
Athabasca also has two U12 boys and girls teams and five U10 mixed teams playing in Tri-County Soccer Association leagues.
