Athabasca teams claimed gold and bronze at the Tri-County Cup U10 tournament, hosted at Whispering Hills Primary School Saturday.
The Athabasca U10 Spartans claimed the league championship with a 2-1 victory over Riviere Qui Barre in the gold medal game.
“It was a very good game,” coach Mark Francis said. “They pushed right to the end. It was exciting right down to the last few shots.”
As there are no provincials at the U10 level, winning the Tri-County Cup represents the pinnacle for these teams.
“We’ve been doing well all season, and it’s a nice thing for the players to get a little bit of hardware,” Francis said.
He said he was pleased by how the players have embraced the team play encouraged at the U10 level.
“Our goal is not to have one kid rush it from end to end,” he said. “They’ve figured out their sides, they’re figured out their positions.”
It was almost an all-Athabasca final, as the Athabasca U10 Strikers United came agonizingly close to making it to the gold medal match.
”In our pool, we tied for first with Riviere Qui Barre,” Strikers assistant coach Pat Neumeier explained. As both teams’ goal differentials were identical, first place in the pool had be decided by penalty kicks.
“We lost the shootout and went to bronze,” Neumeier said.
In the bronze medal match, the Strikers came out victorious with a 2-0 win over the Athabasca U10 Red Bulls.
Wind and rain dominated most of the day, but Neumeier said there were hardly any complaints from the players.
“To be honest, I think the kids thought it was exciting to play in the rain,” she said. “The first game was a mud pit — it was awesome.”
