The year-end soccer tournament for the U7, U9 and U11 soccer teams at Whispering Hills field in Athabasca June 23.
Teams from Athabasca, Boyle, Bruderheim, Lac La Biche, Legal/Grassland and Westlock packed the field to finish off their regular seasons.
Tournament organizer Casey Maguire-Neaves said a total of 30 teams took part.
"Seven teams took part in the U11 tournament," Maguire-Neaves said. "We had a gold/silver medal final, and bronze medal final, and a copper final. The copper final is to determine the fifth-place team."
The copper final went to the Athabasca Destroyers, who actually won by default due to the Lac La Biche Thundercats and the Legal/Grassland team both leaving the tournament early due to some brief rainy weather.
Destroyers head coach Evan Wagner said his team did very well at the tournament.
"They all had fun, they tried hard and it was a great day," Wagner said. "Each player very much enjoyed themselves out on the field."
Athabasca's other two teams, the Warriors and the Mischief Makers, ended up playing each other in one of the two semi-finals to determine who played for gold, and who played for silver. Victory went to the Warriors, who took this match-up 5-2. The other semi-final saw the Lac La Biche Teletubbies beat the Westlock Dragons by a 2-nothing score.
The gold/silver medal final saw the visiting Teletubbies dominate from start to finish, as they ended up beating the Warriors by a 4-nothing score.
Teletubbies head coach Leslie Grammer remarked that people laughed at their team name.
"We came up with it after one of the players tied up his hair like one of the teletubbies," Grammer said. "So, I said okay, we are now called the Teletubbies, and we would keep it nice and cool, and have fun with it. And we still do."
Overall, Grammer said his team worked really hard at the tournament, and it paid off.
"It was a fun event, and we all enjoyed it," he said. "I would like to thank all the teams and the organizers for the tournament, as it was an amazing event. Everything turned out well."
Despite their loss, Warriors head coach Steve Wigham said it was all good in the end.
"The kids did their best and they tried hard," Wigham said. "But they still had a strong team, and they still go home with a medal. Silver is not all that bad, it's still second place."
Previously at the Tri-County Cup in Gibbons June 10 and 11, Wigham pointed out the Warriors won the tournament, with the Mischief Makers settling for silver and the Destroyers winning bronze.
"I am still happy with their performance this year," he continued. "The kids played some really good soccer, passed and moved the ball well, and we got some beauty goals too."
The Mischief Makers did not do so well in the bronze medal game against Westlock. After a promising start with scoring the first goal of the game, they would not score anymore, and would lose to the Dragons 3-1.
Even though they settled for fourth, Mischief Makers head coach Leslie Olson said it was still a fantastic tournament.
"We have had a season of some wins and some losses," Olson said. "We actually had a really strong showing here today, and we actually finished stronger than we expected to do, so I am still very proud of the players."
For his part, Dragons' head coach Aristotle Halfe said his team did amazing.
"It is actually the first time the boys and girls played together," Halfe said. "We did pretty phenomenal, and I am really excited about the next season that will come up. Each player worked very hard, and I am really excited about the growth they had during the tournament."
But unlike the U11s, Maguire-Neaves said the U7s and the U9s did not have medal games.
"Instead, they all get a participation medal for playing," she said. "Each team for both age groups were supposed to play three games each, but they only played two due to the short rain we received midway through the tournament."
Nicole Rysdyk, who coached the U9 Athabasca Purple Scooters during the tournament, said she was really pleased with how her team performed.
"The boys and girls did awesome during the tournament," Rysdyk said. "It was unfortunate our third game was cancelled due to the weather, but other than that, we had two really good games. For us, it was about sportsmanship, learning and having fun."
Local resident Jessica Padlewski, whose sons Conner and Andrew played in the U7 and U9 tournaments respectively, said she is really proud of how her boys performed.
"The Blue Lightning, which Conner played for, won all of their games," Padlewski said. "We will see if both of them play soccer next year, but first, they have to get through playing hockey in the fall."
All in all, Maguire-Neaves said the tournament went really well.
"All the kids had a blast," she said. "The tournament is an awesome event for the whole community, and everyone who attended, player or spectator, had lots of fun."
