Members of the gold-medal winning under-13 Storm team are shown here. In front, Marvelous Mofolasayo. Second row, from left to right, Brinley Perratt, Matthew Healey, Mason Kucher, Kallyn Sonmor, Destiny Herbert and Liam McGrath. In back, Casey Powell (assistant coach), Cameron McLay, Kearin Wagner, Rhys Bacon, Colton Smolinski, Anika German, Cole Parfitt, Shaun Poletz and head coach Martin McGrath.
Kevin McBain
of The Clarion
The Kindersley travel teams continued to find success at soccer tournaments last weekend.
The Kindersley Storm sent four teams to the Saskatoon Harder Avalon with all of them finding some success. Leading the way was the under-13 team, which went undefeated in their three-team division to claim the gold medal.
They started off with a 3-0 win over the Aurora Athletics, then defeated the Hollandia Birns 3-1 to earn a bye to the final, a rematch against the Birns’ team. They once again prevailed, winning this time by a score of 4-1.
Coach Martin McGrath said that the team played well.
“The kids did really well,” he said. “The size of the field is totally different than what they are used to playing on, so it is a pretty big learning curve for them.
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“They are used to playing on a half field, but there is a huge difference going from that to a full field,” he added. “The spacing and the transition is very different, but they got used to it and played well. They put in a great effort and got the wins.”
Also competing from Kindersley was the under-9 team; under-11 team that finished the weekend with a 2-2 overall record.
The under-17 team, meanwhile, finished with a 2-1 record.
The previous weekend, the Kindersley girls and the U11 Kindersley-Rosetown boys competed at the Hollandia Cup tournament also held in Saskatoon.
The boys ended up winning the gold medal winning five straight games defeating the teams by a combined score of 36-0. This team is coached by Bernie Morton, Tyrel Beckman and Darrin Johnson.
The girls did very well and came away with a silver medal.
“It was awesome. They played very well,” said coach Janelle Layton.
The team earned wins in their first two games to earn a trip to the final against a tough Aurora Horizon club. The Kindersley squad fell just a bit short, losing 3-1.
“The gold medal game was tied at 0-0 after the first half,” said Layton. “But Aurora played tough in the second half and scored a couple of late goals to win.
“I am very proud of the girls and they showed very good sportsmanship in their wins and losses,” she added.
This is the first year for an all girls team to compete from Kindersley and although they are playing at the U15-17 level, they span a wide range of ages and even a couple of girls are under-13. They also come from so many different areas including Eatonia, Marengo, Luseland, Major, Dodsland and Rosetown to compete.
“The girls have played so well and have come together in a big way,” said Layton. “You can see their improvement each and every time out. Have to give a shout out to Sidney Fries, who has been a big help coaching the club and bringing it all together.”
All of the Storm and house teams will be in action during the soccer windup June 15 to 17.
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