Heading the Penticton Pinnacles FC inaugural Spring Cup, it was all about gaining experience for the Nufloors Pinnacles under-13 boys team.
Their first learning experience was likely to learn to control their emotions as they lost the gold medal game to the Prince George Kodiaks 4-0 on Sunday.
“I think they were a little overwhelmed for their first gold medal game,” said coach Tony Trovao, whose group had gone 3-0 into the final. “They played great up until the last one.”
Trovao wasn’t disappointed in their effort. The Pinnacles had just defeated the Kodiaks 1-0 in their final game and Trovao suggested his players might have been a little over confident.
Trovao likes his team to pass the ball often.
“The team we played against played the same style, they just played it better,” he said. “They have some big boys, some quality players up front. Prince George has a very good team.
“We experienced losing at kind of the inappropriate time,” joked Trovao.
Other Pinnacles teams also enjoyed success during the weekend. The Pinnacles under-10 boys, under-12 boys and under-11 girls all came out on top.
Trovao praised the work by SOYSA and he is excited to see it grow next year.
“From what I hear the spin off in the community was great for the economy,” he added.
Keri Afonso, an assistant administrator for SOYSA said they are very happy with how the weekend went.
“There was lots of good feedback and everyone was excited about having a tournament this time of the year,” said Afonso. “We would like to get more teams obviously (41 participated), but being the first year, we have to get the process in place so we can get the information out sooner. Get more teams to come from out of town.”
One of the comments they heard from visiting teams is how much it was appreciated that younger players were welcomed.
“They don’t have too many opportunities to be involved in tournaments like this,” she said. “Kamloops was very happy with the way it was run and to bring their kids. Tournaments usually don’t include that age group.”
As for the other tournament winners, the under-10 Kamloops Blaze placed second, while Kelowna United under-11 was second to the Pinnacles under-12 team. In under-12 action, Kelowna United White defeated Kelowna United Black for first. In under-13/14 division, the Semiahmoo Adrenaline defeated Kelowna United Red for first, while Edmonds United under-16 defeated TOFC under-15 for first. The Campionesse FC defeated the Cochrane United Wolves for first in the under-15/16 division. Shuswap FC defeated the Kootenay Thunder for first in the under17-18 division and the Kamloops Blaze defeated Lethbridge FC in the under-17/18 division.