Kyle Doiron and Jaymen Schieck
Special to Coast Mountain News
The Sir Alexander Mackenzie School ( SAMS) co-ed soccer team had a very successful campaign this season.
The team finished second place in the zone tournament in Prince George, qualifying for the Provincial Championships in Burnaby for the first time in 13 years. This was especially satisfying for some of our team members who have been on the SAMS team since they were juniors and got to experience the growth and development of the team.
Soccer practices began right at the beginning of the school year, where the team would train three times per week.
We would like to thank coach Alex Boileau and assistant coach and SAMS Grizzlies alumni Leif Nestegard for their dedication and volunteering their time. They each have their strengths, and under their guidance the team really improved their defense, fitness and speed which helped our team.
The Mudbowl soccer tournament on Oct 6 here in the valley was also a lot of fun, in the senior division we had mixed teams with SAMS and Acwsalcta school players as well as penalty shootout and a coaches/staff versus players game. This was good preparation for our zones tournament.
The team would also like to thank Jordan De Graaf for holding a soccer skills clinic as well as coming out to various practices – his knowledge of the game was a huge help towards the development of our team. Having a squad with a range of players who have not ever played before to players who have played for many years, things started to gel and players were becoming more and more skilled.
The team held a bottle drive to help fundraise money for our team. The out-of-town trips are very expensive and the team needed to work hard to fundraise enough money. We would like to thank everyone who donated their cans and bottles, as well as helped along with the fundraiser.
First came the North Central Zones tournament, a tournament that the SAMS team attends every season. The tournament is comprised of six teams: Northside Christian School (Vanderhoof), Lakes District Secondary School (Burns Lake), Westside Academy (Prince George), Fort St. James Secondary School, Fraser Lake Secondary School, and SAMS.
The top two teams of the zones tournament would move on to the ‘A’ Provincial Championships in Burnaby.
The first game of the tournament for the Grizzlies was against Burns Lake. The SAMS team glided past our opponent, winning 9-1. Next, we played Northside Christian School – a private school from Vanderhoof. Northside were a strong, well put together team, and we lost 2-0. Northside had won their previous game, which meant that their victory over us would qualify them for provincials, and clinch their spot as the winners of the tournament.
One spot remained though, and we were still in contention for that spot. We would then play Westside Academy, a private school from Prince George. The winner of this game would qualify for provincials. We scored two goals in the first half, and then put in a solid defensive performance in the second half to secure the 2-0 victory, the silver medal, and our place in provincials.
Provincials were set for Nov. 2 to 4, roughly two weeks after the zones tournament.
The team squeezed in three more practices in preparation for the tournament, and then left for Burnaby on Oct. 31.
At provincials, the team played five different games, playing against some of the province’s finest teams. Some games were very competitive, while others were more difficult match-ups.
After a total of five games, the team finished 16th, even though we fought incredibly hard and played some of the best games of our season. It was a huge achievement for the team to even qualify for provincials.
At the end of the day, we were proud to be part of the tournament itself, and the team was awarded the “Fair Play Award” and was given also a special tournament gameball for their outstanding play and sportsmanship.
The SAMS soccer team would like to thank the following people and organizations for their awesome support this season.
Coaches: Alex Boileau and Leif Nestegard. Jordan De Graff for the soccer clinics and help at practices.
Chaperones: Kerry Boileau, Brad Beloin, Steven Hodgson, Natash Provost and Maria Savard. School district 49, bus driver Leonard Kozak, SAMS principal Barry Squires, Kristina Knudsen, Sony Legault. Paige Wheatley, Bob Rose, support from Shadow Falling, Clark Lansdowne, Eddie Moody. Barney Kearns, and to all the families and players on the SAMS soccer team without your support we wouldn’t have had as much success at Mudbowl, Zones, and Provincials.
Soccer Season Awards
Team Awards, 1st place at Mudbowl soccer tournament, 2nd place at Soccer Zones single ‘A’ in Prince George and received the “Fairplay” award at Provincials in Burnaby.
Individual Awards
Top Offensive player in the Zones tournament: Kyle Doiron
Top Defensive player in the Zones tournament: Manny White
Player of the Game at Zones: Danny Legault, Jaymen Schieck, Kyle Doiron
Most team goals at zones: Kyle Doiron
Most team goals at Provincials: Jaymen Schieck
Best Keeper: Danny Legault
Player of the Game at Provincials: Morgan Boileau, Markus Hembruff, Aubrey Pelletier, Chandry Evans, Manny White, Lucas Johnston, and Super 16 Leadership award went to Nathaniel Schooner.
SAMS Soccer team 2022: Kyle Doiron Co-Captain, Jaymen Schieck Co-Captain, Danny Legault, Declan Ratcliff, Aubrey Pelletier, Morgan Boileau, Manny White, Tristen Sellars, Chandry Evans-George, Markus Hembruff, Ryder Provost,Thompson Beloin, Shaylen Moody, Eli Hall, Nathaniel Schooner, Reid Pelletier, Presley Nelson, Alaina Legault and Louie Durocher.
Kyle Doiron and Jaymen Schieck are Grade 12 SAMS players and co-captains.
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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