PORT HARDY—Players in the Port Hardy Youth Soccer Association apparently enjoyed their home-cooking on the final weekend of the season in June, coming within one title of a sweep of their own tournament at Port Hardy Secondary School Fields.
Port Hardy teams won both the boys and girls U-12 championships, the U-15 boys title and the U-18 mixed final. Only a win by Port McNeill’s U-15 girls, in a matchup of Port McNeill squads, broke up the Port Hardy run.
Port Hardy coach Darryl Coon helped guide two teams to wins, with his U-18 Blue Lightning topping the Port McNeill Lemareicans and his U-15 boys Blazers edging the top-seeded Duct Tape of Port Hardy 3-2 in the final.
Both U-12 finals featured all-Port Hardy lineups. In the boys’ championship, the Red Bulls topped the Bluecaps, while the girls Green Hurricanes downed the outdueled the Blazers to earn their title. The Hurricanes’ win gave them matching North Island tournament titles, following their victory in the Port McNeill Mud Bowl in April.
In the U-15 girls final, Port McNeill’s Kick Ass upended the rival Strikers, reversing the result of the Mud Bowl final in a rematch of the teams.
The tourney ran across three days on four area fields, and included non-playoff games from young players aged 10-under. Concessions were set up at Eagle View Elementary, Robert Scott School and PHSS to accommodate the crowds that moved between fields throughout the weekend.
The tourney wrapped up the North Island’s spring soccer season, though players aged 4-16 will get another opportunity at the pitch when the World Cup Soccer Camp makes its annual appearance July 21-25.
The World Cup camp features sessions for players in Port Alice, Port Hardy, Port McNeill and Sointula and will wrap up with the always-popular soccer and dance jamboree and T-shirt signing Friday, July 25, at the North Island Secondary School field in Port McNeill.
To register or for more information on the camps, including local contacts, visit www.worldcupsoccercamp.com.