KEYSA (Kootenay East Youth Soccer Association) U16 Boys almost pulled out a win in their first tournament of the season, earning a silver medal against their top competitors, the Nelson U16 Selects in the final game at the annual Terry Walgreen Tournament.

The stage was set in Nelson at the beautiful Lakeside Fields, as the Rovers U16 Boys were tied for first in their category going into the final, having won two games against Creston and Nelson U15 Selects and tied one game with their rivals the Nelson U16 Selects the day before earning a spot in the finals.

The final game was a nail-biter with the Rovers coming out strong with the first goal of the game. Nelson tied it up 10 minutes later and the Rovers quickly responded resulting in a 2-1 lead going into the second half. Playing hard until the very end and demonstrating equal skill, control and stamina to Nelson, Rovers were unlucky in pulling out a win with Nelson scoring two final goals in the second half.

The team is coached by head coach Pat Widmeyer and assistant coach Juho Pelkonen. Widmeyer stated his satisfaction on the outcome of the tournament: “The boys and coaches had high hopes going into this tournament as we’ve been practicing hard and have been looking great. Their performance was high throughout this tournament with limited mistakes. Given this was their first real chance to play together this year, I am pretty proud of the outcome and know there are good things to come for the team this year.”

Whitecaps Regional Coach Sam Heap was also in attendance to support KEYSA rep teams and was on the U16 Boys’ bench during the final.

Heap was also happy with the U16 Boys’ tournament outcome and recapped his thoughts of their performance this weekend: “This is a standout KEYSA team with great potential and a very bright future ahead of them should they continue to work hard for each other.”

Heap has been hired as KEYSA Technical Director this year while also continuing to lead the Whitecaps Kootenays East Prospect Academy for the past three years in Cranbrook. His involvement has led to an increased improvement and higher level of play for all teams and players throughout KEYSA.

The KEYSA Rovers U16 Boys are training for a run to represent the Kootenay region at Provincials this year. The next tournament for many of the KEYSA rep and development teams, including the U16 Boys, is in Invermere at the Clash of the Titans tournament during the last weekend of May.

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