Soccer teams clash in tourney
Players hope communities are represented in future events
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, March 30, 2017
INUVIK
A deflection off one of their own players put the Inuvik Jr. Boys down 3-2 halfway through the finals match with the Inuvk Jr. Co-eds at an East Three School soccer tournament last weekend.
The Inuvik Jr. Boys gather for a photo after winning the junior division. From left to right are Dalton McLeod, Krish Sharma, Donovan Arey Junior, Joshua DeKwant, Cody Wainman (goalie), Colin Mitchener and Dwayne Drescher in back. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photos
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"I saw a couple of their faces, and they were like 'ohhh,'" said coach Dwayne Drescher.
But the team rallied quickly, telling each other to forget about it and get it back.
"Their minds just changed, their faces changed. They put their game faces back on and were ready to play again," said Drescher.
The Jr. Boys ended up winning 5-4 to take home the junior division title.
"I feel that we just had good communication," said Colin Mitchener, one of the players on the Jr. Boys team.
"We could tell where everybody was."
Communication and passing were the keys to victory, he said.
Drescher said the players are just getting used to each other and he can already see the connection between them. The Jr. Co-eds team they faced was also made up of players from Inuvik's school program.
"They're a really good group," said Drescher. "They're very vocal and they're hardworking. I ask them to go and do some volunteering, they all raise their hands. They all want to do it, and they always want to be on the court. They hustle and they don't give up."
Drescher thanked tournament organizers for putting the event together.
On the adult side, the East Three Clippers scored quickly off the first kickoff vs. Team Jordan Rogers and never looked back, winning 10-5.
It was their fourth East Three School soccer tournament win in a row, though the team's makeup has been changing over time.
"We've kind of mickey-moused our team together every year," said Brendan Cathers. "We've got like three or four returning champs. We're just picking up players as we go and giving everybody a chance to play."
Passing and teamwork led his team to victory, said Cathers.
"It was a good experience," he said. "There were quite a few teams this year, so it was pretty fun."
However, he'd like to see more teams from the community come in future years.
"We'd like more publicity for this event, more teams coming from communities," said Cathers.
"We'd love to see more adult teams come from Aklavik, Tuk, McPherson, wherever really. We've sent out invites and we haven't had any responses for the past few years."
