Submitted by Finn Carlson
This year the SAMS Soccer Team attended two tournaments; the Warrior Invitational and the Zone Single A Championship. Throughout the first weeks of September, the team practiced hard three times a week to prepare for our first tournament, the Warrior Invitational in Prince George.
The tournament lasted three days from September 23rd-25th. We played five different teams from around the region, including Dawson Creek, College Heights (Prince George), Fort Saint James, Westside (Prince George) and we had one extra exhibition game against Northside (Vanderhoof). This game determines who is the best overall junior team in the North, so it was nice to see our development, considering out team is made up of mostly grade 8 -10 players.
These teams consisted of a mix of Triple, Double, and Single A Teams, and both private and public school teams. We won our exhibition game and we finished eighth in the tournament. This first tournament was more of a learning experience for the team, and preparatory for Zones.
Our next tournament was the Zone Single A Championship, which was a longer trip and lasted from October 18th to October 22nd. We played three games total against Burns Lake, Fort St. James and we won our very last game against Westside (Prince George).
As well as our three games this tournament we also went on a tour of UNBC campus and sat in on two lectures about classes they are offering after high school. Overall the SAMS Soccer Team improved a lot this year and we are looking to challenge for a provincial berth next October. The team is co-ed (the only team in the province) and the other teams were also very impressed with our team’s work ethic and sportsmanship.
The team would like to thank the following people or organizations for their support: School District 49, Leonard Kozak (bus driver), Nicola Koroluk, Liz Howard, Melinda Mack, Geneva Walkus, Morgan Durocher (assistant coach), Alex Boileau (head coach), Kristina Knudsen, as well as the local businesses and organization who donated to our Loonie Auction on Nov 9th. (Kopas Store, Got Wood contracting, Nuxalk Development Corporation and Glacier Creek Outfitting).
The team members for the SAMS 2018-19 team are: Breagha and Katie Koroluk, Kai Gunderson, Leif Nestegaard, Morgan Nelson, Nuxim Clellamin, Nick George, Lance Chouinard, Ronald Wheatley, Hadyn Nygaard, Finn and Elsie Carlson, Shayleen Mack, Jaymen Schieck, Tyler and Kyle Doiron, Silas Chapman-Tallio, Trinity Mack, Chase Younker, Jarome White, Jonathon Ratcliff and Billie Fitch.