National Soccer Championships continue rain or shine in Moncton

With rain holding on for most of the day, it was a soggy Sunday in Moncton, but that didn’t keep young athletes off the soccer field.

The Canada Soccer Toyota National Championships U-17 Cup saw its second last day of play on Sunday and while many huddled under umbrellas and rain gear, Team British Columbia used the conditions to help clinch a win.

“I think the weather helped us today, definitely,” said Rio Yassin.

“I mean, we’re used to this in Vancouver so I think it definitely gave us an advantage.”

Spread out over six days and 55 games in total, Moncton proudly hosted this year’s championship tournament.

“For some of these players, it’s a stepping stone to get noticed by academies, by some of the universities so get an education out of it, whatever it is, but there’s a lot of these players that are going up to the next level,” said Local Organizing Committee chair, Serge Manuel.

Adding, “[it’s] probably, in my opinion, some of the highest calibre soccer you’ll see around. These kids are full of energy and they want to win.”

Manuel says the last time Moncton hosted this tournament was the U-14 Nationals back in 2016.

This year the city welcomed 22 teams, 10 in the Girls U-17 Cup and 12 in the Boys U-17 Cup.

“All the provinces are covered and then for the boy’s side we have a team from Northwest Territories,” he said.

While he says the Northwest Territories faced some obstacles, they still took advantage of their time here in New Brunswick.

“They’ve struggled, right? The air quality up there with the fires, smoke and all that. They were telling me they’ve only had 10 practices before coming here, but they made it out to the beach and they loved it,” said Manuel.

Overall, the tournament gave several teams a chance to explore and experience what Atlantic Canada has to offer.

“It’s been amazing,” said Yassin, who has visited New Brunswick once before back in April.

“It’s a nice community. We’ve had great dinners, we’ve had good food. Everything from the transportation to the hotel has been great, so can’t complain.”

The tournament is being spread out over four fields in the Moncton area: Croix Bleue Medavie Stadium, Rocky Stone Field, Harrison Trimble High School and Bernice MacNaughton High School.

“Other than today, the weather’s been amazing. Everybody just loved the sunshine and the heat that we’ve had, but this is nationals and this is what we got,” said Manuel.

“This is not going to put a damper on anyone’s spirits today at all.”

While soccer was the heart of the event, it brought a little more than just the game this week for Wendy Fletcher whose grandson plays for Team Alberta.

“Well it’s special for me because it’s just a three hour drive from home and I get to watch my grandson play and this is his fourth game and I’ve seen all the games. It’s been wonderful. It’s been really special,” she said.

Adding that she wishes she could attend his games, with her family, all the time.

The tournament wraps up on Monday with 11 final games on the schedule.

“I’m hoping to have a gold medal around my neck. I’m super excited and I hope we can get it done,” said Yassin.

“It means a lot. This is all I’ve worked for and I’m really excited to play tomorrow.”

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