I can’t speak for all age groups but it’s great to see in my league, the Men’s Masters (guys older than 35.. some acting younger than 5), has eight teams battling it out over two nights a week. Iain Harvey can correct me if I’m wrong but I think there were six last year. Chatting with the Spendlovian one today and he told me the numbers are up with the kids as well.

I have played just a few games indoor and I have to say it’s an absolute hoot, but you have to pace yourself. The pitch may be small but the action is fast and furious (and there’s no touch line to send the ball over to catch a breather). What more fun can you have while, hopefully, getting into shape? Beats running laps around the stands in a hockey rink in my opinion.

Getting back to the Men’s Masters.. there’s some good rivalries heating up including Real vs. Bia Boro (my team) in cyberspace. Good natured fun that’s a sign of a vibrant and growing soccer community in Nelson.

Pop by the joint and check it out.

Visit soccerquest.ca

Also, Iain’s excellent blog at soccerquest.ca/blog

Here’s what went down from the pages of The Nelson Daily:

» Jiggers cruise to City Soccer Over-30 Women’s crown

» Morton’s fountain of youth too much for Ted Allen’s in Men’s Over-35 final

» No four-peat in Men’s Open as Innkeepers knock off three-time champion Kootenay Co-op

After attending a Whitecaps FC youth conditioning camp last month we traveled south to Seattle to attend a Sounders FC-Chicago Fire game. We could not have asked for a better, first-ever MLS match! More than 36,000 fans rocked Qwest field on a beautiful summer evening in the Emerald City including one Drew Carey, Price is Right host and team owner, who made an appearance at the half. The game also marked the return of Freddie Ljundberg who left Seattle on not-the-happiest-of-terms. A mix of cheers but mostly boos from the crowd made for some fun. The place erupted when Seattle won it in extra time, 2-1, off the head of Fredy Montero, his second of the match.

[View with PicLens]

Our seats were very close to the confetti cannon as you can see in the pics. Keep your hand over your drink!

Anyone who thinks soccer might be fun to play but dull to watch should pass through the turnstiles at Qwest Field. Seattle fans are among the league’s best and made for a great atmosphere. I expect nothing different in Vancouver next season and what a great rivalry this will be!

Spencer Szabo (left) jockeys coach at Whitecaps FC camp in Burnaby.

The field at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West features one of the softest, most realistic artificial turf fields I have ever set foot on (similar to the turf at Soccer Quest).

Whitecaps coach David Broadhurst

Whitecaps youth coaches David Broadhurst and Ross Holtom were in Nelson last month and put on a three day clinic for area youth soccer players in partnership with Soccer Quest. By all accounts it was very well received. Expect more visits from Whitecaps coaches in the future!

PRESS RELEASE

Calgary Dino’s coach impressed with Kootenay Soccer

University of Calgary Dino’s Soccer Head Coach Brian McDonnell was presently surprised by the standard of local soccer players who participate in the Kootenay Regional Showcase Program (KRS) run by Soccer Quest from their Nelson Indoor location.

The University of Calgary is the closest full university to the Kootenay region so it seemed only common sense for Dave Spendlove, owner of Soccer Quest and Head Coach of the KRS, to invite the Dino’s coaches to the region to compare the local skill levels to those in bigger centres. The Kootenays have been basically an untapped area for soccer. In fact, if you look on a BC Soccer map the Kootenays are not even featured as if non existent. With the starting of the Soccer Quest Indoor facility three years ago and the availability of 12 month soccer in the region, keen, motivated players are now given the opportunity to move on to higher levels of play. Several players are now playing Y League in major centres and the play of local rep teams has improved immensely.

The Dino’s staff ran sessions over two days last weekend and several players have been highlighted for future consideration for the Dino’s soccer program. Most of the KRS players are still in grades 9-11 with a few being past graduates this spring and KRS head coach feels these grade 9-11 players, after 2-3 years of high level training and competition, will stand a good chance of getting scholarships in both the U.S.A and Canada.

The KRS continues its Elite training program with a trip to the Mt. Hood tournament in Portland, OR in August and with several other outdoor showcase tournaments and indoor tournaments over the next several months. The program has started to attract interest with enquiries from US schools and European Professional clubs. In fact, Canadian goalkeeping coach Paul Dolan will be in town August 16 to give some quality tips and training sessions and also monitor the progression of the keepers in the KRS program. Further guest coaches include the Vancouver Whitecaps coaching staff and various other University coaches over the next several months.

RICHMOND – Vernon 2, Nelson 1

Submitted by Heather Stewart, U17G Selects

Bronze medal game against Vernon
2-1 loss in overtime
Sara Einarson scored the first goal in the first 5 min.
Vernon tied it up in the second half.
We played 30 mins of overtime where Vernon scored there second goal.

Even though we didn’t get the win, this was a game to remember. This was a game where we saw the girls push past where they thought they were capable of. A fantastic end to the season.

Round robin games:
Game 1
Played Dunbar Dynamite
2-1 Win
Andrea Stinson scored the first goal (and it was a beautiful goal).
Dunbar tied it up.
Sara Einarson scored the second goal.

The team had a great opening game. They played a solid game and did what they needed to do to get the win.

Our game 2 was cancelled because a team pulled out of provincials last minute.

Game 3
Played NSG Snipers (another coastal team)
2-0 loss

A win would have put us in the finals, a loss meant we were playing for bronze.
The game was scoreless until the last ten minutes when the snipers were awarded a penalty shot which they finished. They then scored another quick goal.
It was a great back and forth game where both teams competed till the very end.
Our keeper, Olivia Marshman, had a great game.

ALDERGROVE -

Submitted by Mike Patton, Coach, U15B Selects

Provincial results were in no way reflective of how these guys played. In the extreme heat of the afternoon, the boys came out pretty flat against a very strong Kamloops team. We were chasing the game from the kick off. We did have our chances, but were unable to finish against a goalkeeper that was very hot. The only goal scored was in the last half through a neatly struck penalty from Simon Sheppard.

Fridays game against Whalley was also a late game, and just as hot. Nelson dominated the first half against a team that was full of skill, but lacked in class and fairplay. This was a team we lost to in a shootout for the gold medal two years ago. The defensive grouping of Ryan Tennant, Greg Syverstern, Coleton Dawson, Silas Creighton and Simon Sheppard played extremely well. They kept all of Whalleys shots to 30 yards out. The game was scoreless going into the second half. Shortly into the second half, Whalley scored there first of 4 goals in a span of 10 minutes. From that point on, Nelson pressured coming out with only one goal scored by Mitch Popadynetz who received a deep pass from Braelyn Patton. In a game that was 80 minutes, Nelson lost it in 10, but they did win the remaining 70. They were robbed of a win by poor refereeing and a classless team that played more of a rugby style than soccer.

Saturday’s game was against Coquitlam. It seamed as the tournament went on, the guys started to gel. Coquitlam towered over most of our boys, but skill, determination and hustle ended the game in a 3-3 draw. Craig Martin, (on loan from Trail) had a very strong game in the half line along with Luis Loeschnik and Trace Cooke. Goals were scored by Popadynetz and Cormac Southam.

We had an early game on Sunday morning to finish off the tournament. It was a welcome relief playing in cooler temperatures. This was another game that Nelson absolutely dominated. Terrace got an early goal, but Nelson pressed, dug deep but couldn’t find the tying goal. Terrace did have a couple of counterattack chances, but Andrew Woodward rose to the occasion by making some fantastic saves. We hit crossbars, posts, faces, bodies and even had an open net chance, but the ball did not want to cross the goal line.

If points were given for possession, then Nelson would have left Aldergrove with a medal around their necks. We are all looking forward to next year to prove we are a much better team than the rankings show.

A special thanks to all the parent support over the season and especially for sharing in the Provincial experience.

ALDERGROVE – Nelson 2, Prince George 0

Submitted by Chris Richards, Assistant Coach, U18B Selects

PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that I have got that out of the way.

To start with Keith and I discussed the man of the match and could not agree on one player. From our starters to our players on the bench they all had the games of their life, hence would be unfair to give this to someone.

The team had played PG once before in Kamloops and lost 4-0. In that loss though we had 3 of our 4 center mids injured plus a couple of others. So, not to say that they underestimated us coming into this game but they definitely were not expecting the performance that came at them. Keith and I watched one of their games on the Saturday to get a feel for the team that we were playing. We noticed that they really like to play the wings and were really dependent on this. So we set up our formation to counter this playing a 4-5-1. With our center mids helping out with defending the wings. We also told our team to get right in their faces as quick as possible so not to give them time. We also had Jim Stephenson and Shaun Hickson back from a rugby camp.

So, come game time I have to admit the butterflies in my stomach had been flying for a good three hours. To say I was nervous was an understatement. We lined up and off we went. Well, first 10 minutes they were all over us. We looked a little panicked, but with Christian Desrosiers (Tuni,) and Dylan Zaitsoff at the heart of our defense and Kevin Lewis and Shawn Hickson on the right and left we never once looked like conceding. We weathered their onslaught and as the water break approached, we started to get the game under control.

Our first chance of the game fell to Shawn Hickson. A corner came in and they left him unmarked at the backpost about 12 yards out. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the best of connections and sent it into the side netting. From there they never looked like coming back at us. We closed the ball down so quickly, our runs were amazing and precise. They closed the wings down, didn’t allow them to play at all. We got to half time and sent them out a little more attacking minded. And holy crap you watch beautiful soccer on the TV and you say wow but when its played right in front of you, it’ absolutely astonishing. The boys put out a performance that would scare any team anywhere in the world. The balls out from our keeper we touched back first time to a midfielder that had sagged behind into space, who was playing it out onto the wings first time, who was then crossing first time. It was the most incredible soccer I have ever seen.

It was shown how much it meant to the boys about 55 minutes in. Andrew Meidrich (Puss Puss,) went from one end of the field to the other two times covering about 350 metres at a full sprint and in the defensive end came up with two crunching challenges at the end their chance of any counter attack. This turned into our first goal. After one of those crunching challenges the ball squirted lose to Eric Norberg (Banger,) who switched the ball to Luke Mori, who was on a charge down the other wing. He got to the touchline and after coming into the area a little he squared the ball across to an on rushing Byron Rokeby-Thomas to tap into the open net. Our bench went wild and the nerves finally settled a little bit. After, PG were reeling a little bit and didn’t really know what had hit them. And again it paid of Eric again the maestro, with a little chip over the top giving it to a sprinting Byron. Then as he blazed past one defender cutting inside the area heading to the near post, Luke Mori and Jules Chopin surged to the center of the net. The keeper was lost had no idea what to do, Byron caught him cheating looking for the pass, and slotted into the open near side. Again the bench went wild. We settled down after this and played a possession game, which really started to get to PG because no matter how hard they worked, our passing was too precise and too quick for them. At the water break we reminded them that we still had 20mins left, to keep cool and to just keep doing what they were doing… and they did. Again, the passing was crisp, the tackles were firm but fair. Not once did we look like we’d be losing this game. The biggest testament to how well we played was tha, Kean Silverthorne had to make one save all game. Our defense was so strong, our mids were so quick, precise and strong, and our forwards did everything that was asked of them.

So the final whistle went we all charged down to our keeper and I can’t even describe the feeling. To the point where I still have the huge grin on my face! Then the point where we lifted the trophy, again the feeling was incredible.

It has been a pleasure coaching these boys through out the season and Keith and I will be sad to see them move on. But I’ sure this is a memory they will hold with them for years to come.