OLDS — The Olds U19 soccer team won bronze in provincials, a huge improvement over the team's provincial experience last year when they didn’t win a single game, co-coach Kim Dunn says.
The provincials for several age groups were held July 7-9 in Cold Lake.
The Olds team consisted of boys and girls ranging in age from about U17 to U19.
Most were from Olds, but the team also featured players from Bowden, Sundre, Olds, Didsbury and Carstairs. A player from Three Hills was added for the provincial competition.
They got in one practice together before heading heading into provincials.
“It was an interesting tournament layout this year. There were actually only five teams in our division,” Dunn said during an interview with the Albertan.
“We essentially played everybody in our division and then it was based on points for and against.
“I've never been in a provincial tournament like that before, but there was no crossover. So we played our games and at the end of it we came in third.
“There were five teams. We played every team and then it basically went on wins, losses, ties. And if there was a tie between teams it went down to goals for and against.”
Dunn said it felt “excellent” to win bronze, especially given last year’s experience.
“Last year the U19 team from Olds went to provincials as well and lost every game, pretty handily," Dunn said.
"So this year, it was awesome because we had some graduating players, so it was nice to be able to see some of those (players) finish off their minor soccer career with a bronze in provincials.
"It was great going from dead last last year to bronze this year. It feels really good to give that to them. We were really proud of them,” she added.
The team that went to provincials was actually a combination of two teams, so the head coaches of those two teams – Dunn and Mike Hanna, co-coached the provincial entry, with Rob Schafer serving as assistant coach.
The teams that Olds played against were from St.Paul, Lakeland, Whitecourt and Athabasca. Most of youths on those teams play together year-round and were full U19 boys teams, whereas the co-ed Olds team consisted of players from 16 to 18 years old.
The weekend was extremely hot, and air quality was an issue. Smoke from several wildfires continues to drift.
"Our final game had an index of 7.0 and games are cancelled at 7.5 so it added pressure to the players to retain a lead in case the game was cancelled at any point," Dunn wrote in an email.
Due to those factors, "we are pretty proud of how hard they battled for their result."
Olds played St. Paul in the bronze medal game. The score was tied at the 33-minute mark. Olds pulled ahead with two minutes left.
"It was exciting and intense; a great way to end the weekend," she wrote.
Dunn says there’s great potential for next year’s squad, partly because they only graduate a handful of players and because those who don’t graduate gained valuable experience playing in provincials.
“There were probably eight or nine 16-year-olds and then a handful of 17 and 18-year-olds to make up the squad. So yeah, next year is looking really good,” Dunn said.
