Pincher Creek hosts 2017 U18 Soccer end of the year tournament

Toni Lucas - Pincher Creek's U18 Soccer hosted their end of the year soccer tournament Saturday, June 10, with teams from Elkford and Sparwood coming to play.  The teams each had the opportunity to play each other once in the course of the day with a final total of wins deciding the tournament. Sparwood won twice and Pincher Creek won once.  High winds were a factor in the day.

Teck workers injured in bus crash

Coal Mountain bus on its side in the ditch (submitted photo)

Reprinted courtesy of www.e-know.ca

At least three workers from Teck Coal Ltd.’s Coal Mountain Operations were injured in a morning bus crash not far from the mine’s front gate (approximately 30 kilometres southeast of Sparwood) on December 10. “A bus transporting employees from our Coal Mountain Operations back to town with 12 passengers on board slid off the public road this morning,” reported Nic Milligan, Teck’s Manager, Community and Aboriginal Affairs.

U14 and U18 Hawks host 2016 season end soccer tournaments

2016 Pincher Creek U14 Hawks

Josh Davis - One Saturday, June 25, the Pincher Creek Hawks U14 and U18 soccer teams held their 2016 Junior High and Senior High year-end tournament. The U14 games took place at both Sproule and Halton Field, and the U18 games were played at Halton. Sparwood won first place for the seniors, with Pincher Creek coming in second. Sparwood also won at the U14 level, with Pincher placing third behind Crowsnest Pass. This matches the results from the regular season.

Hawks U18 soccer team back in first place following win against Sparwood

Hawks (in green) vs Sparwood

Josh Davis - On Thursday May 2 the U18 Hawks soccer team took to Sproule field in Pincher Creek, hosting their counterparts from Sparwood. The game was close in the first half, with the Hawks playing against the wind, and Sparwood scoring the first goal of the game. However, the Hawks got into gear in the second half, winning 4-2. With this victory the Hawks have regained their first place standing in the league, followed by Elkford then Sparwood.

Soccer update

• U12 Soccer – Crowsnest Pass edges out win against Pincher 1
• U18 Soccer – Hawks tie game with Elkford
• Mini Soccer tournament held at Saint Michael's and Canyon schools

Josh Davis

U12 Soccer – Crowsnest Pass 1 edges out win against Pincher 1

On Wednesday May 25 the Pincher 1 U12 soccer team took to the pool field, hosting Crowsnest Pass 1. The Pincher team started off the game looking strong, with Jarron Scotten scoring the lone goal off of the first half. However, Crownest Pass took control of the game in the second half. Pincher Creek’s goaltender Carter Newfeld managed to make several impressive saves in the second half. However, Pincher’s spirits fell as they lost the lead, and the Crownest Pass won 3-1.

“I think they get frustrated when they’re losing, because they aren’t used to that,” said Pincher Creek 1 Coach Lisa Stuckey. “The Crowsnest Pass got two goals on them, and they sort of gave up.” Stuckey said the team hasn’t had that many practices together this year, as a result of weather and scheduling issues. “We practiced all of April, and then May has been games.We’re just working on basic skills, get them to take it outside, take it wide, get it across the middle. They’re doing amazing actually, they’ve come a long way. I think they just got down on themselves.”

Pincher 1 is scheduled to play Elkford on June 1 in Elkford, followed by Pincher 2 on June 15 in Pincher Creek.

U18 Soccer – Hawks tie game with Elkford

On Thursday May 26 the U18 Hawks Soccer team took to Sproule field in Pincher Creek, hosting their counterparts from Elkford. Elkford took a red card early in the game, and played for about an hour with one man down. The game was really close in spite of this, ending in a 2-2 draw.

“I’m definitely not satisfied with that,” said Hawks Head Coach Ondřej Soudek. “We wanted to roll them over.” Soudeck explained that Elkford was allowed to play with only two girls on the field, one girl less than the league rules expect. “Then they got a red card, and we thought it was for us, but we didn’t play really good. We didn’t want to win today, and so we didn’t deserve it.”

Soudeck said that the draw doesn’t eliminate the Hawks' chance of placing first in the league. “It depends on Sparwood, and how they do in their game. But we are taking this as a practice, so we will see in the final tournament, when we’ll be all about it. It’s always nice to be in first, but we’ve got to improve our game first.”

Mini-soccer tournament at Saint Michaels and Canyon School

On Saturday May 28 Pincher Creek hosted its first U6-U10 soccer tournament from 8:45am – 3:30pm. The sun was bright, the skies were clear, and the laughter of children was in the air.Each competing young athlete earned a ribbon and a slurpee coupon. While score was kept, games were played for fun, and for the learning experience.

Pincher Creek's U10 Green Machine chases down Elkford

The U6 and U8 teams played at Canyon School Field. Seven teams total competed at the U6 level, including 3 Elkford teams, two Pincher Creek teams, and two Crowsnest Pass teams. U8 games were played on the two remaining fields at Canyon. Eight teams in total completed, at the U8 level, including two teams from each of Sparwood, Elkford, Crowsnest Pass, and of course Pincher Creek. Each team from U6 – U8 played twice.

Pincher Creek's U6 Timbits won their game against Elkford

The U10 level took place at St Michael’s Field.Eight teams in total played, including three teams from Pincher Creek, two teams Sparwood, two from the Crowsnest Pass, and one team from Elkford. Each U10 team played three games.

U8 Pincher 2 in their game against Elkford

Allison Mahli, coach for the U10 Blue Jalapenos from Pincher Creek, called the tournament a “good learning opportunity,” since the U10s don’t normally get the opportunity to play teams from far away.

The U10 Blue Jalapenos gain control of the ball

“There were some higher competitive teams in this tournament than we would be playing in our own league,” said U8 Pincher Creek Coach Tany Warkentin. “It’s always nice to get more competition, and some different styles of play.” Warkentin said this is one of three tournaments the U8 team is eligible to attend this season.

U6 Pincher Coach Jeanette Davis called the tournament “very well attended for the U6 level,” with 75 children present. Her team of five and six-year-olds went undefeated throughout the tournament. “It’s been a great opportunity for the kids to play on a real field,” said Davis. “Normally we just play on half fields. It’s a great day. I think for us the significant part is having so many people come from all over to play against us.”

Finn Stanfield, goaltender for the U10 Green Machine

Teck announces layoffs, suspension of Coal Mountain expansion

Bituminous coal (wikimedia commons)

Christian Davis

In a news release issued November 17, Vancouver based Teck Resources Ltd. announced a planned reduction of $650 million in spending in 2016 "to be achieved through $350 million of capital spending reductions and deferrals and $300 million of operating cost savings identified as part of the 2016 operating budget". Teck plans to eliminate 1000 positions across their global offices through a combination of layoffs and attrition, for a total of approximately 2000 such 'redundancies' over the past 18 months. Teck currently employs approximately 11,000 people. Teck will also be suspending its Coal Mountain Phase 2 project, which is located in southeastern British Columbia, approximately 15 kilometers south of Sparwood. The measures come "In response to persistent low commodity prices".

Pincher Creek's U18 soccer team finishes regular season with a tie against Sparwood

U18 soccer - Pincher Creek (in green) vs Sparwood
Cindy Jackson and C. Davis photos

Joey Jackson

Pincher Creek's U18 soccer team finished off their regular season on Monday June 8th with a home game against Sparwood. The game may have ended up being a 1-1 draw but it was still a lopsided match in favor of Pincher, who for the majority of the game kept the ball in the Sparwood's end of the pitch. Pincher's precise passing and midfield play let them control play for most of the game, but their inability to hit the net gave Sparwood the chance to break the scoreless tie midway through the second half. Pincher then had to play catch up against the sun and the wind but eventually was able to tie the game with little time remaining. Both Pincher and Sparwood did have a chance to score the off  of penalty kicks, but both kicks did not go in thanks to excellent goaltending from both goalies.

Sparwood edges Pincher in U18 Soccer

Joey Jackson

Pincher Creek's U18 soccer team was on the road again for their first matchup against Sparwood. Pincher found themselves down by 2 at the half, battled back to tie the game late in the second half , but after an excellent crossing play by the Sparwood strikers Pincher was handed their first loss of the season, Sparwood winning by a score of 3-2.