Spurs U11 take city championship

Posted on: Staff Writer

From edition: July 26 2019 Strathmore Times

By Janet Kanters Times Editor

The Strathmore Spurs U11 soccer team finished first in the Final Four City Championship last weekend. Alex Tassi (front, l-r), Caden Killoh, Luke Rochford, Gavin Hesch, Kaylen Crook; Porter Jarvis (middle, l-r), Ruben Kalia, Caden Turner, Noah Piper, Kaiden Gauley, Theodore Wiley; coach Ed Tassi (back). Missing: Warner Davis, Liam Porter, coach Tomas Rochford. Photo Courtesy of Strathmore Spurs U11

The Strathmore Spurs U11 soccer team finished first in the Final Four City Championship last weekend. Alex Tassi (front, l-r), Caden Killoh, Luke Rochford, Gavin Hesch, Kaylen Crook; Porter Jarvis (middle, l-r), Ruben Kalia, Caden Turner, Noah Piper, Kaiden Gauley, Theodore Wiley; coach Ed Tassi (back). Missing: Warner Davis, Liam Porter, coach Tomas Rochford.
Photo Courtesy of Strathmore Spurs U11
The Strathmore Spurs U11 boys’ team were the victors at the Final Four City Championship last weekend.
Part of the Tier V Competitive team in the Calgary Minor Soccer Association, the Spurs went into the championships as the number one seed after a very successful season – they went 3-1 in their exhibition season, followed by a 6-0 record in their regular season.
“Considering the mix of players that our team had, with only a few veterans of competitive soccer, and even some newcomers to the sport, the season was an overwhelming success,” said coach Tomas Rochford. “However, the ultimate prize was the league championship.”
In their first game on Saturday morning (July 20), the Spurs played against the fourth seed, EMFC Energy, and despite missing some key players and losing one of their best defenders to injury during the game, they were victors by a score of 8-1.
This set up a final on Sunday morning against the one team in their league that had beaten them (during exhibition play), the Royal West Cruzeiro. Starting strong right from the kickoff, the Spurs jumped out to a 5-1 lead at half. Keeping up the pressure through the second half, while losing another player to injury, they battled hard to an eventual 8-4 victory.
The Spurs U11 boys are now done playing for the season. Next year, Rochford expects a good number of returnees, although a few of the boys will be moving up to the U13 team.