PORT McNEILL—With Canadian National Team coach Steph Steiner spinning the platters, the annual World Cup Soccer camp wrapped up Friday as part soccer jamboree, part dance-off for nearly 100 North Island youth players at NISS track.
Teams of 12 players competed under the flags of eight different countries, with each squad divided into lineups of "junior" players from 6-10 and "seniors" from 11-16.
The jamboree featured a round-robin session of mini games, whose duration was determined by the length of the songs Steiner played from a table set up on the track alongside the pitch. He also awarded bonus "goals" to teams whose bench players displayed the best dance moves.
After a break for snacks, T-shirts and autographs, a final playoff was held, which fittingly came down to a golden goal.
Tye Morash gave Team Germany a 2-0 lead while the juniors did battle, but Sweden rallied behind its seniors, who got goals from Kacie Brittain and Jaylon Grenier to tie the match. Then, with both goalies pulled for the tiebreaker, Sweden's Natasha Estlin rifled a shot just out of the reach of defender Joey Grant to clinch the win.
The jamboree wrapped up a weeklong camp that included sessions in Port Alice, Port Hardy, Port McNeill and Sointula.