21st annual Gunn Baldursson tournament goes this weekend

BY JOHN DECOSTE

NovaNewsNow.com

A total of 162 women’s soccer teams will converge on eastern Kings County this weekend for the 21st edition of the annual Gunn Baldursson Memorial women’s soccer tournament.

First played in 1988, the tournament is billed as the largest all-female soccer tournament in eastern Canada, and some years has included a field of more than 180 teams.

The tournament is named in memory of the late Gunn Baldursson, a varsity soccer player and honours student at Acadia, as well as an accomplished violinist and a member of the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra, who died tragically in an auto crash in November of 1987.

The tournament website describes her as “a natural athlete with exceptional soccer skills. She displayed an abounding love for the game which was obvious to those around her. “Her presence raised the calibre and ambitions of her team-mates as well as those who played against her. She was an outstanding individual and leader who exemplified perfection in academics, athletics and the arts.”

This year’s tournament will feature play in a number of age divisions - from U-12 to U-18, both Tier 1 and Tier 2, Senior Women’s A and B and women’s Seven-Aside.

Coordinator Julie MacRae anticipates good competition in the U-18 Tier 2 and Senior Women’s B divisions, both of which will have large fields of 20 teams. Included in the U-18 total are a couple of U-16 A teams who could not get into the U-16 division.

MacRae admitted to being “a little surprised” at the popularity of the U-18 Tier 2 division, which is usually “a tough division to fill.”

Most of the field this year is made up of teams from Nova Scotia, with a good cross-divisional representation from New Brunswick. Teams from outside the Maritimes are at a premium this time around, but there is an U-14 Tier 1 team from Ottawa, and the defending U-12 A champs from St. John’s, NL are also back to defend their title.

Round robin play is scheduled to get underway at 3 p.m. Friday and continue all day Saturday in all divisions, with a total of 294 games in all. Semifinals are set for 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday, with bronze and gold medal matches at 1 and 3 p.m.

MacRae confirmed that as a rule, “if a team plays on Sunday, it plays two games and it plays for a medal.” The 9 a.m. semifinalists play finals at 1, while 11 a.m. semifinalists play finals at 3.

For more information, including times and locations of games and updated results throughout the weekend, visit the tournament website at www.gunnbaldursson.ca.