Phantom Lake Soccer Club’s minor soccer travel teams are celebrating their performance at a major tournament.
In the recent Harder Avalon tournament in Saskatoon, three of seven teams from Flin Flon – the U12 boys, U12 girls and U14 girls – won their divisions without losing a game. Another team, the U14 boys, achieved their division’s
first seed before an upset loss in the semi-finals.
Tauvia Alexander, president of the Phantom Lake Soccer Club, credits the club’s new development strategy. The strategy involves holding clinics and bringing in experienced coaches from outside Flin Flon to work with the youth.
“We’ve been working closer with the Manitoba Soccer Association, and they’re trying to help us a lot with development,” says Alexander. “We’ve been focusing more on development in our younger age categories, which in turn is going to help our travel teams.”
The club has been working to bring soccer experts to Flin Flon this summer. A soccer clinic was held on June 10 and 11 featuring instructors from Brandon University. Coaches from the Vancouver Whitecaps, one of Canada’s biggest professional soccer clubs, will be coming to Flin Flon on July 27, 28 and 29 to instruct young players.
Player development in Flin Flon comes with its own restraints and challenges. Unlike larger cities, where indoor soccer and practice facilities are available year-round, Flin Flon soccer relies on a short summer season.
“Most of these kids they’re playing against, they play year-round soccer,” says Alexander. “They definitely get on the fields or they have indoor complexes where they’re getting on a lot earlier in the season.”
The next big test for Flin Flon’s travel teams will be June 17, 18 and 19 at a provincial-level open tournament in Saskatoon. Later, on June 25 and 26, Flin Flon will host its own youth tournament for divisions 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Alexander says this year’s tournament is expected to have a large turnout. “Every year, it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Every time we offer something soccer-related, the kids just eat it up.”
