The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It really does feel less like soccer season and more like hockey season every day now as the nights become longer and the unmistakable look of winter, descends on us once again. But even so the Kings and Kweens are still training for the provincial finals taking place October 17-18 in Birtle. The kings, of course, have a spot in the finals, while the Kweens are training with the hope that a wild card spot will get them in. The Kings look very good this year. High school teams lose players every year, that is the nature of the system, and there was some talk that this years team would be weaker when compared to last years. I watch a lot of soccer, at every level, and the one thing I will say that I believe to be absolutely true is that a team of players will beat a team of individuals any day. The Kings this year are a tight disciplined unit. They play very good soccer from defense to attack, are very fast and fit. If any team has a chance of winning a provincial title, or at least medalling out, then this one will be it. Steve Litwyn, coach of the Kings, has done a great job of bringing these players to the level they are today. Coaching at the high school level is difficult. Both in terms of scheduling training sessions, and having players available. The senior players tend to have jobs as they prepare for life after school, plus play a lot of other sports, and of course, throw the odd girlfriend into the mix and time is suddenly very tight. But three times a week, Steve has consistently had a full squad out for training, developing the skills that they need to win that elusive banner. If the Kings get a good seeding, and start play in the round of eight, then watch out, they could easily go all the way. If they get their normal low seeding, as our teams tend to, then that stressful first game has to be played, to get into the round of eight. Steve is confident of success with good reason, he has put a lot of effort into this team, his team is confident of success because they put a lot of effort into training, with a perfect season so far, with no losses, lets hope that they bring back success to Hapnot. On the girls front, the Kweens are training not knowing if we are in the finals or not. If we do get a wildcard spot, we know we will be seeded low, and have that early morning game on Friday, which is fine, we are used to them. None of the Kweens are in any doubt that we should get a wildcard, but we are all worried that we wonÕt. I think we deserve one, but the MHSAA looks at many things when they decide who is in and who is out, it will be heartbreaking if we are not in, a disappointing end to another great season, winning has become normal for both the kings and Kweens, that makes losing harder to take, but the best way to avoid that losing feeling is keep on winning. Lets get behind both teams this week as they prepare for their trip, they are proud of representing Hapnot and Flin Flon, show the boys and girls that you are just as proud of them. Make them feel special, and that they really do represent all of us, then when they get back with championship banners, we really can call ourselves the city of champions.
