The U13 Smithers Soccer team has returned from provincials in Kamloops after placing fourth but with their heads held high.
Club coach Dan Imhof said the team played extremely well July 7 -10 for the Les Sinnott Memorial Boys Provincial Cup.
“We were eight minutes away from the finals, it was pretty good for our team,” he explained. “We got into the game we needed to and we were winning and then they scored with eight minutes left to tie it, so we ended up playing for third and lost that game so we took fourth.”
READ MORE: Three Smithers soccer teams qualify for provincial B championships
The teams they were competing against have been playing together since September and were practicing indoors all winter. The boys from Smithers have only been playing together since May when the fields opened.
“We had three games in the Northern Cup in our age group and then we went down there and our fourth game was the first game in the provincials. So that is a huge disadvantage but for them to do so well speaks to our team,” Imhof said.
Imhof would like to get the ball rolling on building an indoor soccer field.
“We are working actively to try to get some sort of small building to throw some turf in and have the kids be able to practise throughout the winter,” he said.
“This [coming in fourth at the provincial tournament] amplifies that, the kids want this and they need it so we are working towards that. Our goal is to win the whole thing in a few years but we need to be able to practice in the winter.”
The main part of the season is now over but the teams are still practicing and there are a few exhibition games scheduled for August and September.
@MariscaDekkema
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