Flin Flon will play host to northern Manitoba’s top high school soccer teams this week.
The Manitoba High School Athletics Association (MHSAA) Zone 11 championships will take place at Foster Park and the Phantom Lake Soccer Club Sept. 28-29, featuring both girls’ and boys’ high school teams.
Seven teams are set to take part for both tournaments. Hapnot Collegiate’s Kings and Kweens teams will participate - Cross Lake Mikisew, Norway House’s Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Educational Resource Centre (HBOIERC) Huskies, Thompson’s R.D. Parker Collegiate Trojans, the Oscar Lathlin Wolverines from Opaskwayak Cree Nation and Moose Lake’s Frontier Mosakahiken Grizzlies will field teams in both draws. The Frontier Collegiate Raiders from Cranberry Portage will play in the boys’ tournament only, while The Pas’ Margaret Barbour Collegiate (MBCI) Spartans will only bring a girls’ team.
Flin Flon hosted zones last year, seeing the host Kweens breeze their way to both a zone title and a berth in provincials. The Frontier Mosakahiken boys’ team beat Hapnot in a hard-fought final to earn their banner.
The girls’ tourney will take place mostly at Phantom Lake, starting at 10 a.m. Thursday when the host Kweens will start their bid at a repeat zone title against MBCI. The Kweens will play again at 5:30 p.m. against Cross Lake Mikisew and at 9 a.m. Friday against HBOIERC. The girls’ finals will move to Foster Park for 3 p.m. Friday.
On the boys’ side, all games will take place at Foster Park. Hapnot and Frontier will open the tournament at 9 a.m. Thursday. Frontier will play again at 3 p.m. against HBOIERC, with Hapnot facing Cross Lake Mikisew at 4:30 p.m. On Friday, Hapnot will play HBOIERC at 9 a.m. and Frontier will play Cross Lake Mikisew at 1 p.m. Friday, culminating in the boys’ finals at 5 p.m.
In addition to the zone title, teams in both draws will play for a spot in provincials next month. Manitoba’s A, AA and AAA school boys' and girls' provincial tournaments will both be held from Oct. 13-14 in Dauphin, hosted by Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School at the Vermillion Park Sportsplex.
