SUNDRE – The Sundre U11 Strikers, a co-ed soccer team playing competitively in a boys’ division, grew a lot this season, said one of their coaches.
Despite a few defeats earlier on, the squad of seven girls and five boys steadily improved and ultimately earned their way into their division’s final in the Big Country Soccer Association’s league.
“Most of the team had never played soccer before as far as formal competitive soccer, and some kids had never played soccer at all,” said Paul Shippy, who alongside Janelle Mikal also coached competitively for their first times.
“We lost a couple of games earlier on, and then we were pretty hampered by the smoke and air quality and also thunderstorms, so we missed quite a few practices,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said the Strikers found their stride and went onto defeat the Olds Mustangs yellow team, securing for themselves a spot in the west division final against the Olds green team that to that point had not yet lost a game.
“And we managed to beat them, which put us into the whole division finals, which had us play the east division,” he said, adding they played against a team from Three Hill also called the Strikers.
“They’re a very skilled team,” he said, adding Three Hills won 5-1.
But reaching the division final that had been rescheduled to June 23 on account of rain and coming home with silver medals was already quite a feat for the rookie team from Sundre, he said.
“We had some really talented players, and there’s a lot of skill and growth and excitement moving forward,” he said.
Additionally, playing against such an experienced squad also offered an invaluable learning opportunity, he said.
“We learned a lot about how well soccer can be played.”
So the Strikers were jubilant in the face of defeat and already look forward to getting back on the field next year, he said.
“The girls are really excited. They might like to have an all-girls team, which would be really cool,” he said, adding the boys are also “super pumped” about continuing on.
The final was the last main event of the season, which for the Sundre Soccer Club wrapped up on June 25 with a fun game against the U13s, he said.
Shippy expressed gratitude not only to all of the volunteers on the club’s board and those who helped the teams including the refs, but also the Big Country Soccer Association, which he called “a really high-quality enterprise” that was “instrumental in giving all us coaches and players a lot of support.”
Hailing a positive experience, Shippy said he and co-coach Mikal had a great year and would certainly welcome the chance to return next season to keep soccer going in Sundre.
“There’s kids that play baseball and kids that play hockey, but then there are those that don’t play those sports,” he said.
“So this is just another sport that they can try,” he said, adding the club is fortunate to have great fields available right in town.
Soccer is also arguably one of the most accessible and affordable sports, he said.
“It’s just so inexpensive as compared to other sports and other places,” he said, adding some soccer clubs in the cities have far higher registration fees.
Kids who sign up to play soccer in Sundre each receive a kit complete with jersey, shorts and socks, he said.
“They need to provide their own cleats and shin pads, but everything else is provided,” he said.
Some of the kids even had the time and energy to spare to play all three sports, he said.
“Right into the spring, they were playing baseball, hockey and soccer, and they were doing their best to juggle all of them. But they loved soccer just as much as they loved these other sports,” he said.
“Some of these kids, they’re just athletic and they’re competitive and they’re players, and they want to play all the things,” he said.
“It’s such a good energy.”
