Submitted by Kelly Cheater, Coach
This past winter I was very fortunate to be part of the U14 Boys indoor soccer team, which consisted of seven young men and four young ladies.
We played in the Central Alberta Soccer Association league and our season started in October of 2014.
The league consisted of teams from Camrose, Lacombe, two from Red Deer and our own from Stettler. All our games were played in either Camrose or Red Deer and we held our practices in the Stettler Elementary School gym.
Being a small town team, we had a few obstacles to overcome. Where most teams played with up to 18 players, our Stettler team played with 11 players and we did not have the most ideal facility to practice this specific game in, although we are very appreciative for the use of the facility.
Stettler was the only team in our league and provincials that had a combination of boys and girls. This group of kids had amazing attitudes and put 100 per cent effort into each game and practice. Our team surprised a lot of other teams and coaches with their level of play. March 7, 2015, we played Camrose for the league championship game and ended up in second place after a great game. From there, the weekend of March 14, we went on to the Alberta provincials in Calgary. After a very exciting and hard played weekend, they ended up winning two out of their three games, putting us in seventh place out of 12 teams.
As a coach, I couldn’t have asked anything more out of the players, they absolutely played their hearts out and it made for some very exciting soccer. Also, a big thank you to the parents for their support and encouragement.