Playing hard at Soccerfest

Whitecourt Soccer hosted Soccerfest for the U12 boys’ teams on June 24 and 25 at Rotary Park. The tournament featured two teams from Whitecourt as well as teams from Edson, Jasper, Drayton Valley, and Hinton.

The weekend match-ups decided which teams would go on to provincials making the games hard-fought battles as all players wanted to advance.  Whitecourt Team #1 coach Freddy Reyes spoke after his team came from behind to beat Jasper 4-2. “Today was a good performance. They all played together as a team from the goalie to the striker.”

In his second year as head coach, Freddy said celebrating with his team after a win was a proud moment. “Enjoying this moment and, of course, winning” are his favourite parts of being a leader. Early in the game the Whitecourt players found themselves down 2-0 and the arrival of their coach turned things around.

“Our head coach arrived and it turned the game around by changing our system,” said Clayton Puddicombe, adding “this was a must-win and they dug deep and didn’t give up.” The win advanced the team to Sunday’s finals. In the finals, the Whitecourt #1 team came in second to the other Whitecourt team, Tangedal Whitecourt #2. Tangedal will now be moving on to provincials on July 7 and 9 in Camrose.

There were also games in Edson over the weekend and the following scores are all from Whitecourt teams. The U12 Pastoor will be advancing to Camrose in July after playing an undefeated season, 20 wins and zero losses. The U12 girls MacDonald finished with a bronze medal; the U14 girls scored 31 goals letting in only five all weekend finishing with a silver medal; and the U16 boys won two games and lost two leaving Edson with a bronze medal. Also in action were the U16 girls in Hinton who won a bronze medal in their zone finals. In Stony Plain the U14 boys won a bronze medal defeating Stony Plain 7-5. Congratulations to all teams for a job well done.