The Hazelton Secondary Girls Soccer Team travelled to Victoria May 31 to June 6 to participate in the Provincial Soccer Championships after winning their zones the week before.
The team travelled to Victoria on the mini-bus and returned on the ferry and experienced dormitory life at the University of Victoria. The girls and their parents did a great job in raising $5,500 in a week to cover half the cost of the trip to Victoria, teacher Stacey Brown said, and she added she is very proud of the team in many ways.
“Hazelton was well represented in Victoria and the girls received compliments from all of the opponent coaches and the referees on their well played games,” Brown said. “They were driven by the amazing Mr. Terry Bennet, coached by the talented, Brandon Russell, and managed by me.”
Prior to heading to the Provincials, the girls had an extremely successful local season after going undefeated in all their games, including those played against “AA” teams. They played off in late May against four “A” teams in the area zones and won their final game against Bulkley Valley Christian School to earn the berth in the next round in Victoria.
They placed a respectable 13 out of 16 teams and came away with two wins, a tie and two losses which Brown said was quite impressive.
“They did all that after starting the tournament playing the B.C. top ranked “A” team,” she said.
The team members were; Tiffany Bennett, Lia Lazzaratto, Ashley Marshall, Megan Trombley, Natasha Tait, Kaitlyn Morrison, Tanya Bernard, Matthea Weibe, Sam Meek, Breanna Ranahan, Josie Kern, Dominque Melanson, Jessie deBohr, Chelsea Carle, Marilyn Bowden.
Brown also said they were very grateful for the amount of local support the team got which enabled them to make the journey.
“The girls would like to thank the community members and the businesses that were able to support the team financially and with donations to the Loonie Auction, the Dessert Auction, the Canucks Raffle and the Bottle Drive,” Brown explained.