3:00 PM 10/12/2008

Thanksgiving Smash Earns Kudos From Visitors!

On Saturday October 11th and Sunday October 12th, under sunny skies at Mercer Stadium in New Westminster, all 3 Royal City club teams from the girls U11 and U12 levels took part in the first ever RCYSC Thanksgiving Smash Super 8 House Tournament. What was planned as a large event turned into a mini tournament as the only outside teams were the U11 Girls Guildford Eagles and U12 Girls SurDel Inferno.

All of our girls U12 teams played really well but were in tough against SurDel who are tiered at the top of the house level. Krista Lee's RC Whitecaps played their strongest game of the tournament in the final but came up just short against the heavily favoured Inferno. Nancy Dheilly's RC Roadrunners fought off round-robin disappointment and narrowly beat Gord Denusik's RC Shooting Stars in the three/four final. Every one of our Royal City U12 Girls teams should be very proud: The soccer was exciting, the skills impressive, and the sportsmanship was top-notch!

The girls U11 division final went to Wayne McCarthy's RC Tigers who downed the previously undefeated Guildford Eagles 2-1 on penalty kicks. In the three/four game, Steve Tucsok's RC Comets had to battle extremely hard to overcome the up-tempo pressure of Sean Dixon's RC Celtic. (Editors Note: Any players wanting to get into track to improve their soccer pace should contact Sean through http://royalcitytrack.ca/... he's a great coach to learn from!).

Like the U12 girls, all of our U11 girls teams should be incredibly proud of their performances! Every game was close and the action was fast and furious. The comments from some of the Guildford parents and coaches sum it up best: All the Royal City teams were equally tough to play against, and above all, the Royal City players were great sports who treated us and each other with respect. This was the best tournament we've played in. We'll be back next year.

Unfortunately, none of our club's Super 8 boys teams took part. However, through connections made during the setup of the tournament, Duane Hatch's U11 boys team hosted a friendly with a team from Pitt Meadows on Saturday afternoon. Both teams are looking forward to particpating next year.

Royal City wishes to thank all the teams for participating in what we hope will become an annual event. Thanks very much to Betty McCarthy for her organizational efforts at the volunteer tent. Super special thanks to all the parents who stepped up to assist in making this tournament run so smoothly. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!. Also, special recognition to Karen Murray who secured coffee, hot chocolate, and beverage equipment donations from Price Smart Foods at Big Bend Crossing (Marine and Byrne) and Village Coffee Lounge, 705 Twelth Street, New Westminster.

First Annual Royal City Youth Soccer Club Super 8 Tourney a “Summer Smash”

Over the 2008 Labour Day weekend under sunny skies and with moderate temperatures, RCYSC hosted its first tournament in years at beautiful Hume Park. The Super 8 Summer Smash, a tournament open to boy’s and girl’s U11 & U12 “Select” or “Developmental” teams, saw several clubs represented in an eight aside format. Based on feedback from the participating clubs, the tourney could be deemed a success, despite last minute challenges.

Though no U11 girl’s teams were involved, and despite losing one U11 boys team, two full days of soccer were played out with some very impressive skill shown on the field and some equally impressive sportsmanship shown on and off the field. The defending North District champions (U11 Girls Select), Royal City Reign (coached by Shawn Cody), attracted seven U12 girls teams to the event: Two representatives from North Shore, and one each from Coquitlam Metro Ford, Richmond, Port Moody, SurDel, and Surrey. Both U12 Royal City boys’ select teams and both boys’ select U11 teams also took part and drew in strong competitors from Lions Gate, Langley, and South Burnaby.

In the boys U11 division, the Doug Lane coached “United” squad took the group based on points but were barely beaten for the gold medal in the final match by a strong South Burnaby Terminators squad. The Royal City “Whitecaps”, coached by Ed Zacharuk, took home bronze. It was an impressive display by all the teams given that this is the first year they’re playing eight aside.

In the girls U12 division, CMF “Galaxy” edged past our hometown Reign for bronze, while at the same time on the other field, an all Surrey final saw the SurDel “Storm” down Surrey Youth “97 Selects” for gold. The skill level in both contests was top-notch and the future for girl’s soccer looks outstanding for the clubs represented in the final games.

The U12 boy’s bronze medal game saw Langley “Golden Eagles” down our relatively new team, Royal City “Milan”, coached, coincidentally, by Milan. Our finale was the U12 boy’s gold medal game, a hard fought contest that saw the Vince Gentile coached “United” squad emerge with a 1-0 victory over a strong Lions Gate “Burrards” team. Again, great skill was on display and like the girl’s side, the future looks bright for these boys.

Royal City wishes to thank all the teams for participating in what we hope will become an annual event.

Thanks very much to Margaret Stewart for her organizational efforts in bringing in volunteer parents from the U11 Royal City “Whitecaps”. Special recognition needs to go out to the tournament organizers, Karen Murray (who initiated the plan and battled through computer problems but still got teams registered), Shawn Cody (who gathered together a great group of teams), Wayne McCarthy (for scheduling and rescheduling), and Louis Macedo (putting together the boy’s entries amongst other things).

Also, a big thank you again to Lou and Wayne who put in extra time to help make this work; with both of them spending the entire weekend at the field taking care of whatever needed to be done.

With this tournament under our belts, it is time to focus on our Thanksgiving Super 8 Smash for boy’s and girl’s U11 and U12 house teams! Anyone who can volunteer on this one should contact Wayne McCarthy at wmccar@telus.net

Pictures available: If you want a high-res version of any of the tourney photos, contact Wayne McCarthy.

Tournaments

Teams can register and pay for a tournament of their choice and they will be reimbursed by RCYSC.

RCS will refund the U6-U10 teams a maximum of $300.00 and the U11 to U18 teams a maximum of $375.00. Teams can apply for reimbursement for only one tournament.

Send the receipt or proof of tournament registration to the treasurer. This can be done by email to RCYSC"s Treasurer or sent to our mailbox: Royal City Youth Soccer, #291 - 720 6th Street, New West, V3L 3C5. Cheques are issued by the last monday of each month.

There are several tournaments at Labour Day and Thanksgiving. Find more tournaments in 2008 at BCSC.