In provincial soccer, what was formerly called the Boys Provincial B Cup is now the Les Sinnott Memorial Boys Provincial Cup – in honour of Terrace’s late Les Sinnott, who was passionately involved in provincial soccer, who passed away last year.
And seeing as this is the first year the tournament was played in his honour, it’s only fitting that a Terrace soccer team would do well for the first time since 2009.
Terrace’s U17 Boys soccer team travelled to Prince George for the tournament, held July 4 - 7, alongside many other Terrace teams and more than 800 players from around the province.
The team, who has been together since they were U11’s, hadn’t medaled at a tournament since 2009, where the team won gold.
But this year was different.
The tournament started off the round robin with a game against Vernon on Thursday, which they won 2-0. On Friday, the team took it 2-1 to West Vancouver, a solid game against a solid team.
On Friday, they went up against Surrey – one of the best teams in the tournament. The highlight for Terrace came when they tied the game 1-1, but then Surrey scored off a bouncing ball in the six-yard box to win it 2-1.
Next up, the team met Nelson, which they shut out 2-0, before falling to Juan de Fuca in the final game of the tournament.
“Our boys were pretty well done by then,” said co-coach Calvin Struyk, noting the team’s defence was particularly strong. “We only have 15 players on our team and the core was pretty done.”
But the second place finish is still impressive – and reaffirming for the veteran team who hadn’t seen success like they were once used to.
“[The placing] was good for them as a team, for their morale,” he said.
Especially considering that this could be their last year as a team – they are eligible to play one more year, but Struyk said it remains to be seen if there is enough interest.
And as is typically the case for northwest teams, the tournament itself was a learning experience.
“One of the challenges we have up here is we don’t get a lot of competitive games against other teams,” he said.
Struyk’s co-coach Steve Turner points out that when Terrace teams travel to provincials, teams from down south have played a full season with 40 - 50 games whereas our teams have only played six or seven.
Turner’s proud of his team for the success and appreciative of the support system – coaches and team managers – who’ve been together since the beginning.
“All the players did really well,” he said. “It’s a whole team effort.”