Malcolm McCutcheon
Nelson Star
After a stellar weekend of play downs the Nelson Selects Rep soccer program will be sending seven teams onto provincials.
“We’re really proud of everyone’s efforts. All of the games were close, the teams that have gone through and the teams that haven’t made it, we are really proud of both,” said Kootenay Regional Whitecaps Academy head coach Brett Adams.
Playing games all over the West Kootenay region the boys and girls teams from U13 to U18 played two games each.
The U13 boys had mixed results dropping their first match against the KSYSA Storm. In their second match the selects rallied and defeated the KEYSA Rovers 6-2. Despite their efforts the U13 boys will not be moving on to provincials.
The U13 girls will move on to the provincials after they played Kootenay South and defeated their opponents 3-0 in the first game and 5-3 in the second game.
“There were some good things and some lessons in both the games for the girls, but they did what they had to do and got the two wins over the weekend,” said U13 girls head coach Rob Borhi.
A close pair of games for the U14 boys against Kootenay South led to them losing 1-0 in both matches and narrowly missing out on provincials.
The U14 girls received a bye and automatically moved onto provincials due to the fact that there was no other team in the area registered to play.
After a well played 4-0 win over Kootenay East the U15 boys took their second game 2-1 against Kootenay South to move onto provincials.
“I told them they had to get out there and ramp up their game and they played phenomenally well. They played great especially considering the first game was in the pouring rain and cold. They had to earn the right to go to provincials and they did,” said U15 boys coach Jenny Heston.
The U15 girls rebounded after a 2-1 loss against Columbia Valley in their first match and dominated their second game against Kootenay South 6-1 to move on to provincials.
With a last minute withdrawal from Columbia Valley the U17 girls received a bye into provincials.
The U17 boys team could not find their footing after losing their first match 3-1 against Columbia Valley. Their effort in a 1-1 tie against Kootenay East was not enough to secure them a spot in provincials.
After a weekend off due to a bye, the U18 boys team will be moving onto provincials.
Practice Makes Perfect
With play downs now complete and final places in provincials decided, the Nelson Selects Rep soccer program will be focusing on their upcoming Sam Steele tournament in Cranbrook from June 20-22.
“Basically next weekend they will be going to the Cranbrook tournament and obviously that’s a perfect warm up before they go to provincials after a weekend off,” said Adams.
As the season comes to a close the Nelson Youth Soccer Association will be already looking forward planning for next year’s season.
“It’s a slow winding down process, we will review the season and that gives us an opportunity to look at where we want to go for next season. We are already planning on how we can get better for the future,” said Adams.
For provincials, all of the girls teams will play their matches in Chilliwack, while the boys will head to Vancouver.
“It will be difficult in Vancouver because they play year round, but it’s just fantastic for the association that so many teams are going,” said Adams.