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April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 5, 2016
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Students from Echo Dene School in Fort Liard, Bompas Elementary School in Fort Simpson and Thomas Simpson Secondary School scored big at an annual Grande Prairie, Alta., soccer tournament.
Thomas Simpson Secondary School's U16 team nabbed third place in the Rock Around the Clock tournament. - photos courtesy of Kristen Morrison
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The tournament, Rock Around the Clock, ran from April 29 to May 1 and involved U13, U16 and U18 teams.
Tough competition nets Fort Liard silver
Fort Liard's U18 team played a tough final game against Grande Prairie and came away with a silver medal while the U16s seized gold against Dawson Creek.
Meanwhile, Fort Simpson's U16 team came in third, while the U18s took a 6-2 loss in their final game against Dawson Creek and settled for second place.
Bompas youth played four games, including one where they teamed up with Fort Liard. That team-up won them fourth place in the U13 mixed division.
Special needs assistant Berni Leader was one of the Bompas chaperones on the trip. He said the youth poured their hearts into the game despite the fact this was the first time many of them had played.
"They played hard," he said.
"We're expecting big things from them next year."
The Bompas crew consisted of 16 youth with most ages 9 and 10.
Leader said four of the players were 11 and 12, making for a younger and smaller team than the ones they played against.
"Over the course of the weekend, we really did see them improve - I'm quite proud of them," he said.
That included one game that saw Bompas students mix with Echo Dene players. The groups had never played together before.
"It was more about the experience (than winning)," Leader said.
Bompas names its MVP
Mikayla Lafferty was named most valuable player for Bompas while Zachary Berreault received that honour for the Simpson-Liard mixed team.
Rock Around the Clock draws hundreds of players to Grande Prairie every year for the tournament.
Teams came from Behchoko, Hay River, Dawson Creek and Fort Smith to play.
