Blue and Gold Tournament
Parents and Players,
This past weekend was our first tournament of the year. For many of the kids it was their first tournament ever, outside of house league tournaments in St Thomas. We battled hard all weekend, despite many of our kids being sick to start the weekend. The boys showed tremendous determination the first couple of games, even though some of them were unable to eat or drink much at all prior to the games.
Our first game was against the eventual tournament winner. Cooksville (Mississauga) was a very good team, but our kids battled hard all game and kept it close. Of note, we were the only team to score a goal against Cooksville the entire tournament! The coaches were especially proud of the kids that they did not give up after falling behind early. As we noted after the game, the kids won the second half of that game, both in effort and on the score sheet.
Our second game against Oakville proved to be another tough game for the kids. With still a number of kids under the weather we battled hard, showed determination, but just ran out of steam in the third period. Oakville was also a very good team, and were the eventual tournament finalist.
Our third game against Lorne Park (Mississauga) was such a great game. As one of the parents stated afterward, "a nail biter". It was the kids best game of the tournament! The boys had a break through game with puck movement, passing, and positional play, and it showed with us creating a number of scoring chances. We ran into a hot (and sometimes lucky) goalie and came up a bit short, but just an excellent game overall!!
The players should be proud of their effort this weekend. The team made some real breakthroughs in their play as a TEAM, and showed real signs of gelling as a unit. Coach Bill made note of something at the pool party after the final game:
"Every time another player comes through the door into the pool area, all the boys that are here are turning and yelling their name as they enter."
A great observation by Coach Bill! The boys truly came together as a team this weekend, and the coaches would like to thank everyone for a great weekend!
Coach Josh