Soccer fever hits Pincher Creek, sunshine prescribed

U6 Green Goblins and Fireflies

• U6: On the ball
• U8: Game On!
• U10: Post to post pressure
• U14: A win and a loss to begin the season
• U16:  Elkford defeats Pincher Creek
• Home games schedule

Toni Lucas with Chris Davis

U6: On the ball

U6 players are aged 4-6 and play on the Canyon School field from 6 to 7 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. These young athletes are learning the fundamentals of the game while learning how to listen to their coaches. They also demonstrate an incredible amount of enthusiasm and energy on the field. The team names below are subject to change.

U6 Green Plants

U6 Yellow Bellied Blueberries

U6 Wasps

U6 Green Goblins and Fireflies

U6 Green Bananas

U8: Game On!

There are three U8 teams in Pincher Creek. They teams play on the Canyon School field from 7 to 8 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. They have finalized their team names and have started to take it past practice and drills to playing against each other.

U8 Blue Mountain Kickers

U8 Komodo Dragons

U8 T-Rexes

U10: Post to post pressure

Pincher Creek has four U10 (age 8 to 10) teams this year, including the Tornadoes, the Maroons, the Soccer Smurfs, and the Super-8s (names subject to change). They practice and play at the St. Michael's School Oval every Tuesday and Thursday night.  They play each other with a seemingly boundless amount of energy and enthusiasm, and it is quite evident that they have been working on their skills, as their games are friendly but quite competitive, with lots of back and forth and some impressive displays of ball handling and assertiveness.

U10 Soccer Smurfs and Super-8s

U12-1: Sorry, we missed your Wednesday game. We hope to catch you next time, we've heard good things.

U14:  Pincher vs Elkford

U14 Soccer kicked off at the Pincher Creek Agricultural Grounds Soccer Field on Tuesday, May 13.  Pincher Creek hosted Elkford. The weather was cool and clear, the breeze was light and the game was friendly.

For both teams this was the first game of the year due to previous weather related cancellations. The players are looking good for so early in the season. Both teams were taking control of the ball and getting it to the end zones, but Pincher was more aggressive in getting it in the goal.

At the half the score was 5 - 1 for Pincher Creek.   Elkford worked at better communications in the second half and managed to score 2 more goals. The final score was 9 - 3 for Pincher Creek.

Meanwhile, at the nearby Horseshoe Pavilion several High School Rodeo champs were practicing.  Local cowboy Chaz Vance came by on his horse Guy to catch some of the game, much to the delight of some of those on the sidelines.

Chaz Vance and Guy drew admirers

Liam VanEe was in goal for Pincher throughout the game, and Brady Clow and Tanner Barkley played goal for Elkford.

"For the first game of the season, my team played very well," said Elkford Acting Coach Karen Mills. "This is the first time they have got to play as a team, so they should take a lot from this today. Pincher has a good strong team, but next time maybe we'll win."

PC Madison defending ball from Elkford's Isaac

Pincher Creek is being coached by Brandon Morgan and Braden Barber. "This is my first year as coach," said Morgan. I have a good team, so it's really nice. It's easy when the kids are all ready to go. About half of the team is returning. If they keep on returning from here, it should be really good."

U14:  Pincher vs Crowsnest Pass

Pincher Creek's U14 Soccer team hosted the Crowsnest Pass Avalanche at the Pincher Creek Agricultural Grounds Soccer Field on Wednesday, May 14. It was a very competitive game.  The Crowsnest Pass was up 2 - 0 at the half, and Pincher Creek was feeling the pressure.  The Avalanche proved to be quite confident on the pitch, and their teamwork was top-notch.  The game ended with the Avalanche shutting out Pincher 4-0.

Liam VanEe and Richie Lagrandeur were in goal for Pincher and Alex Ewen manned the net for CNP.

"It's our second match, we're treating them like practices because we've had a tough time getting the pitch," said  CNP Avalanche Coach Rob Tkachuk.  "We're not really concerned about the score, but accomplishing some goals in terms of control.  We need them to slow the game down, and possess the ball and hold for three seconds so everyone can play a support game."  This is the second game of the season for the Avalanche, having played Sparwood on Tuesday May 13. Sparwood won that match 4 - 2.

U16: Elkford defeats Pincher Creek

Pincher Creek and Elkford U16 soccer teams met on the Matthew Halton School field on the evening of May 15. This was the firstgame of the season for both teams. It was a cool overcast day with more than a hint of drizzle. Fortunately, that did not seem to dampen anyone's enthusiasm for the game.

Elkford got into the swing of the game quickly. They were playing their patterns and covering the field well. Pincher Creek took longer to get into the competitive mode, and it was 5 - 1 Elkford at the half.

Pincher picked up their game in the second half. They tightened up their defense and were playing with more focus. One highlight of the game for Pincher was when Levi did a flip over an opponent to push toward the net to score. That showed spirit and ingenuity under pressure, and was the move that had everyone talking.

Marcel Levecque defended the Pincher goal and David Gold was in net for Elkford.

Elkford kept the pressure on throughout the game, ultimately winning it 8-3.

Pincher Creek Coach Kelly Lepine had the kids clean up the equipment before diving into a giant pizza-sized cookie at the end of the game. Her focus has never been on the score, but the kids and the game. "They still had a lot of jitters, but they did fine," she said.  A lot of her team from last year graduated up to U18 this season. "There is only six from the same team last year."

Elkford Coach Mark Spittael has been with the team "Since they were U8's, the same group," he said laughing. "I think it went really well. We have a couple new team members, We have an exchange student, Victor, and we have a new player that moved to Elkford, his name is Blaine. They are fitting in really good, and they like soccer." Spittael is happy with how his team played, and is looking forward to the fine tuning that more time on the field will give them.

2014 Season Soccer Games in Pincher Creek for the 2014 season (subject to change):

U6 and U8 at Canyon School Field 
every Monday and Wednesday night
Started Wednesday, April 30, going to Wednesday, June 24th.
Mini’s (U6) from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Mighty’s (U8) from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

U10 at St. Mike’s Oval:
Every Tuesday and Thursday night from 6:30 to 8:00pm.
Starting April 29, 2014 going to Tuesday, June 24th.
6:30 pm – 7:00 pm is practice, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm is game.

U12 at Pool Field
(Wednesdays starting at 7:00 pm)
April 30
May 7
May 14
May 28
June 4
June 11

U14 at Ag Field
(Thursdays starting at 7:00 pm)
May 6
May 13
May 14
June 10

U16 at Halton Field
(Thursdays starting at 7:00 pm)
May 8
May 15
June 12

U18 at Sproule Field*
(Mondays starting at 7:00 pm)
May 20 the game at the Ag Field*
May 21st

Year-end tournaments:
U14 tournament and a U18 tournament on Saturday, June 14, all day, at Sproule Field, Halton Field, and the Pool Field.