The Cariboo Youth Soccer League (CYSL), which involves competition for rep teams from 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Quesnel and Prince George, is currently underway.
With a smaller population base, 100 Mile House players are often running uphill against the squads from the larger centres. It is a challenge for the local players because they are often competing against players an age group above their ages.
100 Mile doesn’t have a U12 team, the U13 boys and girls compete in the U14 division, and the local U15 boys and girls play in the U16 competition.
With each community hosting a play day, the CYSL season had its season opener in Quesnel on May 5, and 100 Mile fielded four teams.
U13 girls
On May 5, the U13 girls played to a 1-1 tie against an older Prince George team (U14), with Allison Carr and Moriah Zailo sharing the duties in net.
Game 2 saw the squad lose 2-1 to an evenly matched Quesnel team with Courtney Cave and Heather Heales taking turns guarding the goal line.
“Heat and fatigue played a major factor in the second game, but the game was close and could have gone either way,” says Lianne Heales who coaches the team along with Janice Poggenpohl and Shelly Morton.
In Williams Lake on May 12, the U13 girls had their best game to date, Heales says, adding their teamwork and outstanding passing took them to a 3-0 win against Williams Lake. Allison Carr and Heales shared the goaltending duties.
The second game was against Prince George, and it ended in a 3-0 loss.
“It was a gritty game and the girls played with true determination and sportsmanship and kept it an evenly matched game with just a couple of unlucky goals.”
Cave and Carr were outstanding in the net, she notes.
100 Mile’s U13 girls will be competing against Quesnel in the U13 playdowns in a few weeks to try to secure a spot to go to the B-Cup Provincials this July.
U15 girls
U15 girls coach Casey Hall says his team is off to a good start as most of the girls have played together for a few years.
“We are playing in a U16 division as a U15 team, so we are very young but holding our own.”
On May 5, they dominated in game 1 against Prince George, with Paige Hall scoring both goals for 100 Mile. Coach Hall says it ended in an unlucky 2-2 tie game, as Prince George scored both goals late in the contest.
"We we're struggling against fatigue with only two spares."
The second game was a well-fought tilt against Quesnel in extremely hot temperatures, resulting in a 3-1 loss. Hall scored the lone goal for 100 Mile.
On May 12 in Williams Lake, the girls had a good game against Williams Lake and settled for a 1-1 tie. Lara de Kok notched the goal for 100 Mile.
"We had many chances to score, but seemed to hit nothing but posts and crossbars. We dominated the whole game just had bad ball luck."
The second game was against the older U16 team resulting in a 5-0 loss.
Hall says the Williams Lake squad is much older and more experienced, but it was a good learning experience for the 100 Mile girls.
They kept the score at 1-0 for more than half of the contest, but 100 Mile had two injured players, which meant there were no spares and they couldn’t keep up the pace.
"We have recently added two more girls to the team and I am confident we are going to have a competitive, successful team building and looking forward to the future."
U15 boys
On May 15, the team played against the Prince George U16 boys and were shut out 6-0.
However, this was the first game for the 100 Mile squad, which is made up of U14 and U15 players (one or two years younger than their opponents). Kean Kellermeier was the goalie.
The second game was 4-1 victory for Quesnel. 100 Mile’s lone goal was scored by Patrick Walker, and Kellermeier played goal again.
On May 12, the boys played the Williams Lake U15/16 team and lost a close 2-1 contest. 100 Mile’s lone marker was scored by Jacob Fisher on an assist by Reid Davidson.
Kellermeier was in goal.
“It was a great team effort and obvious improvement,” says team spokesperson Lisa Davidson.
The second game was a 6-1 loss to the Prince George U16 team. 100 Mile took an early 1-0 lead with a goal by Fisher. Kellermeier was in goal for this game.
U12 boys
On May 5, 100 Mile led 2-0 for most of the game and played well against the first Prince George team they faced, but the game ended in a 3-2 loss.
The second game was against another Prince George team and most of the game was spent in a 1-1 tie. However, the northern squad scored in the second half and won 3-1.
On May 12, 100 Mile took on one of the Prince George teams again, and the final was an 8-8 tie.
The second game was an 8-1 victory for 100 Mile against the Williams Lake U11 team.
"Our boys have played quite well for having only a few practices before going right into games, and they are enjoying themselves," says team manager Jennifer Appleby.
100 Mile House will host Quesnel and Williams Lake in CYSL action at the soccer complex on June 16.
The league wind-up day will be in Prince George on June 23.