You can say it's a rebuilding year for the Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School boys soccer team, but considering the athleticism and the talent on the roster already, you can't say this squad is starting from scratch.
After all, soccer is basically “the” sport in 100 Mile, says coach Sean Glanville. “Most of the boys have already had a lot of coaching.”
The boys soccer team is back at the local high school for the first time since 2008, when the squad placed second at Zones.
Coach Glanville says the team already includes a number of good athletes and leaders, such as Grade 11 students Reid Davidson, Patrick Walker, Lukas Waldner and Sean Mason.
He adds that a number of junior players could be real contributors as well, such as Cameron Ardiel, Lee Machete, Mason Sanders and Hayden Prodnuk. Prodnuk played great in goal for 100 Mile House's rep team during a provincial tournament this summer.
“If they stick with the program for a few years they could become really valuable to the team,” Glanville says of the juniors.
With 100 Mile House hosting the North Central Zones on Oct. 30-31 and a mini tournament on Oct. 9, it should be a fun and busy year for the resurrected squad.
“I have no idea where we'll place or how well we'll do,” Glanville says. “The goal this year is to be competitive and start building a program. Eventually, success breeds success. If you have a program that's continual, people talk about it and they can have something to look forward to every year.”
“It's a building year,” Glanville adds. “If we can actually be competitive and maybe get a medal at Zones or beat a couple of these Kamloops teams, it would be awesome.”
The 100 Mile House boys are also heading to Kamloops for exhibition games on Oct. 17-18.
The PSO girls are hosting soccer Zones in May 2016.