Under-16 rep team scores gold at soccer tournament

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Thank goodness for shopping.

That’s what the Yarmouth Clippers under-16 boys rep soccer team discovered when they had to round up their players and parents after a recent tournament in Dartmouth that had been called off, was called back on.

The tournament, hosted by Dartmouth United on Aug. 2, had been cancelled because of the weather. So the Yarmouth team went their separate ways.

“Everyone starts to spread out and head home, but luckily everyone stayed within the Halifax area to go shopping, although a couple of people made it to Kingston,” says coach John MacKenzie. “Because then we get word the tournament is back on.”

It was a mad scramble to reach everyone by cell phone and get them back to the field.

“Some people had to go to a mall to find people,” says MacKenzie, who shares coaching duties with Maurice Munroe.

But thanks to the parents the scrambling paid off.

“We got everybody back, we had all of our players, and we won the whole thing,” says MacKenzie.

There were five teams in the tournament.

MacKenzie says some of their games were close matches, but for the most part the Yarmouth rep squad dominated the play. And all of their games were shutouts, with no one scoring on Yarmouth’s goalkeeper Zach Kennedy.

“We also never got one red card or any yellow cards or warnings from refs, so it was all very sportsmanlike,” MacKenzie adds.

Another noteworthy part of the tournament was a skills competition, won by Yarmouth player Mackenzie Munroe who accumulated 390 out of 400 points.

“He juggled the ball on his hands and knees and legs and feet 311 times,” says his coach.

This was the first tournament this season that the Yarmouth team won. It’s picked up the silver at others.

The team is now eyeing provincials. The Clippers can advance to the provincials – being held in Antigonish over the Labour Day weekend – by beating New Ross in upcoming matches.