For fans of the beautiful game, this summer has held plenty of soccer excitement.
On the local soccer scene, the Nanaimo and District Youth Association recently held it annual general meeting. A good crowd was in attendance, partly perhaps because team awards were presented. Or maybe it was that each youth player there received a free soccer ball! To start the evening, NDYSA treasurer Jack Stephens made a special presentation to acknowledge the contributions of former youth soccer president Anup Kang. Then it was my pleasure to MC the presentation of medals to the top youth teams from the past season. This week we’ll review results from the various age divisions of boys’ competition…
League winner in the U13 boys’ division was the Nanaimo Miners team. Coach for the squad was Carl Neibel, with assistant coach Lynn Boyetchko and team manager Celine Ruel. Players on the Miners were Dallas Neibel, Levi Alexandre, Duncan Green, Keith Gilson, Jordan Paterson, Matt Daniel, Jacob Sims, Aaron Maskill, Adam Haight, Cyrus Rupa, Einar Nicolson, James McNeill, Jesse Moran, Liam Lazaroff, Mackenzie Cooper and Mario Mercier.
Runners-up in league play were the Yellow Jackets, coached by Mike Carter and Brian Elliott. On the roster were players Devin Hiller, Tyler Schulz, Angel Tamayo, Cole Wery, Liviano Canil, Anthony Rodway, Gibson Clark, Noah Elliott, Jacob Svensen andrew Carter, Robert Foreman, Connor Freeman, Riley O’Rourke, Teddy Vukovic, Ryan Campbell, Lochlan Moore, Kevin Sudyko and Luke Walker.
Third place in the U13 division went to the Nanaimo team nicknamed the Blue Crew. Chris Jackson, Douglas Hardie, and Tim Johnson provided the coaching for players William Jackson, Hamish Hardie, Takai Lee, Nikolas Johnson, Jacob Perkins, Lincoln Gogo, Elijah Duchak, Brandon Ramirez, Jesse Miller, Riley Scott, Sam Kjollesdal, Zion King, Nathan Castle, Nghia Nguyen, Brandon Harder, Austin White and Patrick Thompson.
Top team in the U14/15 boys’ league play this season was the Nanaimo crew known as the Black Ops, who had an undefeated regular season. On the pitch were players Braedon Zimmer, Trevor Zonneveld, Nicolas Crosby, Jackson James, Colm O’Donnell, Caleb Liggett, Tyson Meldrum, Nathan Currell, Mark McCallum, Dylan Trudeau, Alex Milburn, Harlan Colclough, Evan Garrow, Matthew McCamon, Gordon Walls-Good, Johnson Nguyen and Cameron Mayor. Coach for the team was Bernie Milburn, assisted by Dennis Trudeau.
Taking second place was the Nanaimo team coached by Adrian Kempster and Stephen McPhee. Team members included Ben Kempster, Gabriel McPhee, Noah Duncanson, Tyler Armstrong, Jack Bullen, Cody Butt, Thomas Simpson, Callum Gemma, Kaleb Graham, Robbie Manj, Lachlann Glennie, Jonathon Chavez, Adam Logan and Garrett Goodall.
In U16/18 boys’ action this year, the league title went to Nanaimo coach Mick Sampson and his team consisting of Brandon Bonnetplume, Tyler Bordeleau, David Sampson, Jake Worden-Dean, Jeffery Vezina, Darian Degroot, Tyler Norris, Jared Parhar, Kishan Parhar, Ryan Loggia, Colby Brown, Matthew Collins, Caleb Fortais, Linden Hoover, Kreston Lance, John Logan, Riley McDougall, Jordan Perry, Goekhan Pamukoglu and Joao Rezende.
Taking second place was the Oceanside team coached by Butch Gayton. Third place went to the Nanaimo Laser-cats. On the local side were players Callum Baird, Matt Cardin, Sebastian Cooper, Dylan Ecclestone, Aaron Halsall, Trystan Jackson, Brendan Johnston, Dylan Katila, Janek Lassak, Max Norcutt, Dan Roadhouse, Adam Szot, Erik Van Waes, Alexander Williams, Will Moore and Nicolas Rezende. Coach was Robert Halsall, assisted by Jay Sled.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.
Ian Thorpe writes about sports Saturdays.