Four Salmon Arm soccer teams went to the Little Bear soccer tournament in Revelstoke over the weekend, where they did their community proud.
In the U13/14 girls division, Shuswap girls brought home a bronze medal, winning two games and tying one.
Coach Liz Mair says she was really pleased with the team.
“We came into our own, being more creative in front of the net. It’s kind of neat, they came together in this tournament. I think some of them really had a lot of fun, and they’re pretty proud of themselves. It was a huge team effort.”
Team members participating were: Jane Chorneyko in goal, Holly Nickles, Mairin Idzan, Briana Staal, Eliza Jane Kitchen, Libby Olson, Rebecca McDonald, Julia Anderson, Gabby Jackson, Elena Bruns, Taylor Corston, Maia McLellan, Taigan Radomske, Kairo Mair and Dani Adams.
The Shuswap U17 boys team couldn’t be beaten, bringing home the gold medal in their division.
The first two games against the Calgary Magpies and Golden were mismatches given the skill of the Shuswap team. Both ended 8-0 with creative play and a balanced attack resulting in a host of goal scorers.
“The final against Invermere was well- fought as the U17s faced the best offside trap we saw all year,” said Coach Lorne McNeilly.
Shuswap prevailed in a shoot-out victory with a strong performance from goalkeeper Joel Feenstra and goals by Daniel Schager, Nathan McNeilly, Brody Osborne and Brendan Shykora who netted the eventual winner.
“It was a great display of skill and sportsmanship. The boys represented our club and our community well.”
The team was made up of: Nathan McNeilly,
Aidan Miege-Moffat,
Joel Feenstra in goal,
Ian Bulmer,
Levi Verlaan,
Brendan Shykora,
Sten Korver,
Peter Behncke,
Max Friesen,
Lucas Rampen,
Daniel Schager,
Brody Osborne,
Cam Richardson and
Austin Schneebli.
In the U11/12 boys division, the Shuswap team won two games, tied one and lost one. That left them out of the medals, but co-coach Ross McDonald said they had a lot of fun.
The players, a combination of U11 and U12 teams, were: Rowan McDonald, Andrew Olson, Phoenix Goldsmith, Gavin Mason, Kevin Henz, Nikolas Mondor, Matthew Sharratt, Ethan Senger, Andrew Cowell, August Thomson, Reilly Jacques and Daniel Wyss.
The U15 Shuswap boys team also topped their division, going undefeated and bringing home gold.
Playing on the top end of their age category, the Shuswap team outplayed all of their opponents.
“I thought the boys played really well as a team and capitalized on a strong possession game throughout the tourney,” said assistant coach Ken Kantymir.
Players were: Westlee Bischoff, Eric Brock, Nick Chesney, Morgan Crandlemire, Micah Gunn, Nathan Hawes, Lachlan Hicks, Nate Kantymir, Quintan Fahlmann, Jacob New, Kyle Nicholson, Max Scharf, Dylan Staal and Isaac Walton.
Teams at the tournament came from Calgary, Canmore, Castlegar, the Columbia Valley, Kamloops, the Kootenays and Nelson.