“A weekend of medals” is how coach Brett Adams summed up the Nelson Selects’ endeavours on distant soccer fields last weekend.
The teams went off in opposite directions to Sandpoint, Idaho and Revelstoke, but collectively brought home one gold, three silver, and one bronze.
“It’s great to see so many of our teams competing at a high level against good teams and coming back from tournaments with medals,” said Adams.
“It’s an incredible achievement when you consider the players have only been in training for two weeks. I’m really proud of all the teams this weekend. Lots of them competed in older age groups so they could be challenged.”
Sandpoint tournament
The U13 girls played in the U14/15 age group and took third place.
“The girls all played really well,” said coach Darren Peloso.
After a 4-3 loss to Spokane FC they won 4-0 over Flathead, and 2-0 over Spokane Shadow.
The U12 girls played three games, losing once and tying twice.
Adams said the U12 boys took silver in a “really hard pool of teams.” They lost the final 5-2 against the top-ranked U12 team in Idaho.
Revelstoke tournament
The U14 boys played in the U15 division and had a great tournament, winning gold when they beat the Nelson U15s 2-1 on penalty kicks.
Adams called the U15 girls’ silver medal an “incredible achievement” as they played up a division in the U16. They won the first game 9-0 against Revelstoke, then tied Calgary 0-0, and lost to Calgary 2-1 in the final.
The U14 girls played three games, winning the first 6-1 and losing the next two, the last of which was decided by penalty kicks.
This weekend most of the Nelson Select teams will travel to Castlegar for a tournament.
(CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that the teams combined for four medals.)