Author’s note: This is a review of my most memorable time with soccer. I played for over 20 years, and coached for over 10, and the 2018 season was my favourite. I was head coach of the Reynolds senior girls soccer team, and this is how our season went. – Mike

Table of Contents

  1. Accolades
  2. Preseason
  3. League Season
  4. Ryan Cup
  5. Island Championships
  6. Provincial Championships

1. Accolades

1.A. Individual Accolades

Team Captains: Abby (merit) and Camryn (voted)

UVic Tournament MVP: Annie

Golden Boot (Top Scorer in All Competitions): Cecilia

Team MVP: Jess

Provincial Commissioner’s 16 Award: Cecilia

Provincial’s Player of the Game: Jess, Cecilia, Alyssa, Annie, Chantel

Reynolds Sr. Girls Sportsmanship Award: Camryn

1.B. Team Accolades

UVic Nike Spring Classic: 4th

League: Winners

Ryan Cup: Champions

Islands: Champions

Provincials: 4th*

*Best finish ever for Reynolds Sr. Girls soccer (Previous best was 8th; 2017 team placed 13th at provincials)

2. Preseason

2.A. Assignment
  • May 2017 J.J. Atterbury asked me to coach the senior girls team
  • J.J. offered to act as a mentor
    • He had concerns about the coaching transition for the returning players in grade 12
  • Finding a co-coach was challenging
    • I recruited Nora and Courtney to split time as co-coaches with me
    • Nora and Courtney teamed up to coach the Jr. girls team instead
  • Dan Geneau was appointed by the athletic department in Feb. 2018
2.B. Assessments
  • I put signs around Reynolds in early March and spread the word
  • 25-ish girls were interested in playing
    • Some had work, some were out of district
  • Final team list had 19 girls, with room for Sydney as the 20th for islands/provincials
  • Easy cut conversations: Jadyn; Bella
  • Tough cut conversations: Mia; Katie

3. League Season

3.A. Stellys (1-0), Belmont (5-0), Spectrum (5-0), Mt. Doug (4-0)
  • No injuries
  • Four winnable games, four wins
  • No goals against
  • Many girls were away vs. Spectrum – Mia and Katie were called up
3.B. Oak Bay, Claremont
  • 4-0 win vs. Oak Bay at Braefoot
    • A goal early in both halves put Oak Bay to the sword
    • At this point in the season, Claremont could still beat us to steal the league
  • 2-1 win vs. Claremont at Lochside
    • Ref arrived at halftime, a civilian reffed the first half
    • Poor sportsmanship showed by Claremont players, fans, coach
    • Haley with the 40-yard game winning goal eight minutes from full time
      • Lochside will always rekindle the memory of this goal
    • Tom Aerts followed up with Claremont re: unsporting behaviour

4. Ryan Cup

  • Ryan Cup is an eight team cup made up of the top four AA teams and top four AAA teams from Victoria
  • Reynolds seed: #1 AAA
4.A. Quarterfinals and Semifinals
  • 4-0 win vs St. Andrews at Hampton(!) Turf in quarterfinal
    • I was absent from this game (wedding in Ontario)
    • Finding a field was tougher than getting the W
      • Got the W
  • 2-1 win vs. Claremont in the semifinal
    • Friendlier affair than the week before
    • Same result
    • Emily with a cheeky banger and an even cheekier celebration

4.B. Final vs. Oak Bay
  • Won 3-1 after extra time in pouring rain at Oak Bay Turf
    • Couldn’t secure a home field due to Jr. Girls Islands
    • Ballantyne wasn’t happy on the bench
      • Made me a deal: playing time in exchange for a goal
    • Ballantyne scored the game winning goal in overtime

5. Islands

  • 8 team tournament with 5 south zone teams and 3 north zone teams – Hosted by NDSS and Dover Bay
  • Reynolds seed: South #1
5.A. Day One – Round Robin vs. #5 Mt. Doug and #3 Claremont
  • Both games were at McGirr fields at Dover bay
  • 4-0 win vs. Mt. Doug
    • Nervy first game
    • Janelle Traynor coaches Mt. Doug and was a good sport
      • Nyla is super cute
  • Jen chaperoned for us
    • Super clutch with the juice boxes and granola bars
  • 1-1 tie vs. Claremont
    • Frustrating and hot
    • Hannah and Sophia didn’t play, both were huge on day 2
  • Easy hotel and dinner business
    • Parents can be tough to deal with

5.B. Day Two – Round Robin vs. #2 Dover Bay, Tiebreaker, Championship Game
  • 4-1 win vs. Dover Bay at NDSS Turf
    • Cecilia with the takeover
    • Finished Round Robin tied with Claremont
    • The tiebreaker format was explained to me at the coach’s meeting – brand new rules
    • We waited 30 minutes for Claremont to drive across town to battle us in a shootout
  • 4-3 shootout win vs. Claremont at NDSS turf
    • Berth in the championship game and provincials was on the line
    • First three shooters from each team scored
    • Tash was the first to miss – she cried
    • But Jess made a save, Hannah was clinical, and Jess made another save for the win
  • 6-2 win vs NDSS in the championship game at NDSS turf
    • Felt like a home game because the C.P. Rec class from Reynolds stopped on their way to Tofino
    • 2-2 at halftime, NDSS answered our goals with quick responses
    • Explosive second half, the 8th and final half of the tournament
      • Energy, what?
    • We finally allowed ourselves to smile at 5-2, at 6-2 we were hugging
    • This was a sweet trophy to lift, the best of my playing/coaching career

6. BC Provincial Championships

  • 2018 BC AAA Girls Soccer Championships hosted by UBC and Kitsilano – 16 teams
  • Reynolds seed: #1 island region
6.A. Draw and Tournament Administration
  • 4 pools of 4, winner of each pool advances to semi-final
  • Pool D: Reynolds, Sardis, Lord Byng, Panorama Ridge
    • Panorama Ridge won the 2017 provincials
  • Planning the trip was very challenging, I only had a few days to prepare
    • J.J. was helpful, but Reynolds made it challenging to get a chaperone
  • After all was said and done, I spent about $1000 of my own money and recovered around 800.
    •  Ferry, UBC parent expenses, crummy venue billing process, stupid parking, etc.
6.B. BC’s Day 1 (Sardis @ Warren Turf; Lord Byng @ Jericho Turf)
  • 0-0 tie vs Sardis – MVP: Alyssa
    • Jess was kicked in the head in the 5th minute – lucky to stay in the game
      • Intentional, yellow carded
    • Woodwork struck at both ends, Reynolds was the unluckier team
    • Sardis was aggressive like we had never seen, and they were happy to tie
  • 4-1 win vs Lord Byng – MVP: Cecilia
    • We finally woke up as a team, Cecilia woke up and had a hat-trick
    • Byng was also very aggressive, injuries stacking up hard
      • Abby, Tash (20% fit), and Sam all benched: each all-star players
      • Jess, Cecilia, Sarah, Ballantyne, Alyssa, and Penner all with knocks
    • Set up to play Panorama Ridge on day 2 for all the beans
  • Team stay at Place Vanier Residence
    • Good facility, neat to have 10 teams staying in the same spot
    • WiFi shoutout: we didn’t have it in our rooms but the common space was clutch
    • Parents behaved better than at islands on day 1, which was a huge stress relief

 

6.C. BC’s Day 2 (Panorama Ridge @ Warren Turf, pool seeding, Centennial @ Wolfson West Turf)
  • 2-0 win vs Panorama Ridge – MVP: Annie
    • 0-0 score until the death when Annie scored a quick pair
    • Pan. Ridge was unlike their 2017 champion selves, they were lucky to keep it 0-0
    • Serious injury management and using the whole bench took most of my focus
      • Maddy Anderson outstanding at center back
  • Pool seeding and semi-final draw
    • Reynolds won pool D, drew Centennial in first semi-final
      • South Delta vs. Fleetwood in the other semi
      • Unlucky draw, Centennial was the toughest pick of the bunch
  • 0-2 loss to Centennial in BC semi-final – MVP: Jess
    • Reynolds was thoroughly dominated in the first 15, and it was a very intense atmosphere
    • Alyssa very unlucky to draw yellow in the box for a penalty kick against
      • The fallout of this incident caused multiple stoppages as parents argued with the referee
      • I actually had to go muzzle the fans – the referee was ready to abandon the match
    • Maddy’s concussion in the 2nd half compounded our misery
    • This was the toughest, highest level, and most emotional game I have ever coached
    • First loss of the season
  • Team stay – night two
    • Parents helped get a bbq together using Stan’s moho
    • It was a quiet and sad night, many players were hurting, especially Ballantyne and Maddy
    • We had spent so many emotions together over the previous weeks that there was a cozy bond between everyone
6.D. BC’s Day 3 (South Delta @ Warren Turf, trophy presentation, trip home)
  • 0-2 loss to South Delta – MVP: Chantel
    • Reynolds was completely devastated by injuries and fatigue, the result was inevitable
      • 11 players played center back at the BC’s, only 3 had played CB all year for me
    • Emotional and physical fatigue led to a few outbursts during the game
      • Reynolds was still the classiest team in the tournament
    • Everyone emptied the tank and played for each other
    • After the game, graduating players received a gift and there were plenty of hugs and tears

 

  • Trophy presentation at Thunderbird Stadium
    • Reynolds picked up fourth place, the best ever finish by Reynolds in girls soccer
    • Cecilia was chosen to receive the “Commissioner’s 16” award – chosen before the tournament started
    • Sitting on the stadium grass with 15 other teams was a unique experience, the mood was tired and sore
  • Trip home
    • After a convoy roadtrip to the ferry and a break in the terminal food court, we were excited to be going home
    • There was a lot of laughter, friendship and comradery with this group that I’ll never forget
    • Our final stats were 14 wins, 2 ties, and 2 losses across all competitions