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GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALTA - Soccer players from Fort Simpson had a lot to celebrate as they returned from Grande Prairie.

Five teams from the village competed at the Rock Around the Clock tournament from May 1 to 3 in Alberta. The teams returned with one division banner, two sets of silver medals and one set of bronze medals.

The Fort Simpson U-12 girls' team brought home the banner from the Rock Around the Clock Tournament in Grande Prairie. Team members include, from left, back row: Janelle Bruneau, Sherissa Grossetete, Winona Cli-Letcher, Leanne Ocko, Reannda Cli, Cydney Nahanni-Kwasney, Alicia Norris and Hilary Charlie; front row, from left: Madison Pilling, Sarah Verge, Melissa Pascua-Matte, Katrina Browning, Tiffany Larter, Harley Betsedea and Aleyx Smith. - photo courtesy of Val Gendron

The U-12 girls' team claimed the gold medal win. The team, composed of 15 athletes from the village, went undefeated in their division.

"The girls played really well," said coach Val Gendron.

"They were the speediest team there."

In round-robin play the Simpson team defeated the JB Tyrell team and the Paul William Kaeser team, both from Fort Smith. Moving onto the semi-finals the girls faced another Fort Simpson team and beat them 3-1.

In the finals, Fort Simpson faced the Paul William Kaeser team again. It was a close game but the girls beat them 3-2 to take the division banner. Reannda Cli scored two of the winning goals in the game while Aleyx Smith scored the third.

Cli said she was "surprised and excited," that the team won the division. The second village team provided the toughest competition because they had a few older players and some of them were good, she said.

All of the team members, including the forwards and defense, contributed to the win, said Cli.

"The defense was good at controlling the ball and getting it up," she said.

The team was also good at keeping the ball away from their side, said Cydney Nahanni-Kwasney, who played defense.

The second Fort Simpson team went on to take bronze in the division. The girls did really well considering they'd never played together before, said coach Stephen Charlie.

The team was originally slated to play in the U-14 division but after a scheduling mix up they added some U-12 players and two athletes from Nahanni Butte and moved into the U-12 division, said Charlie. The team lost their first game to Hay River 5-0 before coming back to beat Fort St. John 3-2.

After losing to the village the team went on to meet Hay River again in the semi-finals and beat them 5-1.

"It was quite an accomplishment for them to gel so quickly," Charlie said.

Players from Fort Simpson, along with Fort Smith and Behchoko, also came together to form a team in the girls' U19 division.

The Pulsars came out of the round robin in second place after defeating Inuvik 2-1 but losing to Grande Prairie 1-0. The Pulsars outplayed the team but just couldn't get the ball into the net, said Shane Thompson, the team's coach.

The Pulsars also beat Hay River 6-2 in the round robin. In the semi-finals, the Pulsars had a close game with Inuvik.

Inuvik was up 2-0 early in the game but the Pulsars scored a goal before half time. Ten seconds into the second half the Pulsars tied the game and then tipped the scales five minutes later.

Two more goals were traded before the buzzer sounded and the game finished in a 4-3 Pulsars' victory.

The team's luck ran out, however, in the finals against Grande Prairie, a 7-1 loss put the Pulsar's in second place of the division.

"It was a bad game for our girls and the other team played really well," said Thompson.

Silver medals also went to the Rebels who played in the U-14 boys' division.

The team went 1-1 in the round robin play before wining its semi-final game 3-2 against Fort St. John. In the finals the Rebels faced Fort Smith and lost 4-1.

"The boys played really well," said Thompson, but weren't able to convert plays into goals.

The Rebels were composed of 10 Fort Simpson players and Trevor Timbre and Riley McLeod from Fort Liard.

Fort Simpson also fielded a team in the U-12 boys' division. The tournament was a learning experience for the players, said coach Todd Roche.

The team won one and lost two round robin games. Goalie Julian Porter was named the most valuable player for the first two games.

"He deserved it. He was peppered with shots," said Roche.

Players from Fort Simpson and Fort Liard also contributed to wins for other teams from the territory. Leif Amundson, Thomas Roche, Logan Donovan and Mathew Gauthier were part of the U-19 Behchoko team that won its division. The Fort Smith team that took second in the division featured Gordon Thompson, Tyson McLeod, Adrien Tremblay and Colin Needlay.