Eleven soccer players from the U9-11 100 Mile House & District Soccer Association teams participated in a play day at Williams Lake on June 19.
This inaugural event had 100 Mile going up against the Williams Lake Future Stars.
The idea came about because of coach Steven Keller's son, Matthew Keller, was in the Future Stars lineup.
“He plays for both Williams Lake and 100 Mile, so I thought it would be a great idea to get the two teams together and see how they compete. When you play against teams from other places, you feel more motivated.”
As for selecting the players, coach Keller says he simply chose who he thought had skill and good teamwork dynamics.
“I just grabbed a bunch of kids that I have coached over the years and even some I have seen that play well, show good skill and solid sportsmanship.”
The play day consisted of three games with each game being a tight contest.
The first match was a strong 5-2 victory. Future Stars came back with a 4-1 win in the second and the final game ended with a nail-biting 3-3 tie.
Goals for 100 Mile for all three games were scored by Megan Holyk, Matthew Keller and Isaac Todd.
Coach Keller was extremely proud of the 100 Mile players performance despite this first dip out of their regular playing grounds.
“Every player on the team elevated his or her game as the pace was much faster than they were used to. They were a very coachable group and they supported each other really well.”
Coach Keller says he is already looking forward to expanding this concept and, hopefully, making a regular team out of it.
“The Future Stars really enjoyed the games and have already asked us to come back. We are hoping to get another play day in this summer. If not, we still want to put a U11 team together to go up against similar teams from Williams Lake, Quesnel and even Prince George.
“Once they get a taste of what can happen, hopefully this will become a big thing.”