Playing an attacking style of soccer has proven successful for the Okanagan FC U15 girls team again this season.
Having won the U14 A Cup B.C. championship last season, the team continued their winning ways by capturing the U15 B.C. title this year, earning a berth in the national championships taking place in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in October.
With the team a combination of 14 and 15 year-olds, they had little trouble overwhelming their opposition, having not lost a regular season or tournament game this season.
In the recent U15 B.C. A Cup Championship tournament held in Kamloops, Okanagan FC dispatched Saanich 4-0, North Shore 4-2 and Coquitlam Metro Ford 6-2 in the preliminary round and then defeated Metro Ford again in the final 4-0.
Andy Stevenson, the girls' team coach and owner of Okanagan FC, feels the secret to his team's success is familiarity.
"They have played together for a few years now some of them have been playing together with us since they were 7 and 8," Stevenson said.
"They have played together a long time and played under multiple coaches鈥擨 am the fourth coach they have played for鈥攁nd I think that has been a good thing, getting different messages, exposure to different coaching styles, I think is a good thing."
Stevenson said a similar characteristic between the U15 girls and the Okanagan FC U15 boys team, which also won a B.C. U15 A Cup title and a bronze medal in the national finals last year in Ontario and followed that up by repeating as B.C. A Cup champions at the U16 level this season, is the club strategy to play an aggressive style of soccer.
"It is more fun to watch and to play that style of game. Rather than play a sterile, possession-based game, we prefer our teams to play an attacking style," Stevenson said. "There is more risk in playing that way, but I would rather win a game 5-4 than 1-0."
The U15 girls squad will face one setback in preparing for the nationals, as star forward Charlotte Robertson has been recruited for the Vancouver Rise women's professional soccer team academy and will not be available for the PEI tournament.
"It is an exciting opportunity for Charlotte, and we are excited for her," Stevenson said.
But otherwise, between now and October, the team will continue to play exhibition games and participate in a high-level tournament in Vancouver on the Labour Day weekend to help prepare for the nationals, along with fundraising efforts to help offset the costs not covered by the B.C. and Canada soccer federations.
Stevenson said the experience of the U15 boys at nationals last fall will be helpful in preparing for the tournament and the fundraising commitment required from the club, parents, and players.
"We have that experience from last year, and we totally will use that. We went in a little bit blind last year, and to win a bronze medal was unprecedented. But I think with these girls this year, we are going to win it," he said.
Stevenson said the better teams in the nationals tend to come from B.C., Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta, and traditionally B.C. and Ontario are the strongest.
"We have already handily beat the best teams in B.C., so I think we can beat anyone," he said.
Winning tends to be contagious for any sports organization, and Okanagan FC is no exception.
Having two teams from 麻豆精选 advance to the U15 nationals and win back-to-back B.C. titles, Stevenson says, sets an example of what is achievable for the younger club players coming up behind them.
"Last year I was surprised by how engaged everyone in the club was with how our boys were doing in the nationals. People were watching the games on livestream, following on social media, checking the Canada Soccer website for updates," Stevenson recalled.
"Everyone in our club was excited, which was great for your younger players to see, knowing it could be them pushing for that in a couple of years time. And then lo and behold, another of our teams did the same thing (qualifying for the nationals) a year later."
"So we're looking forward to seeing the same kind of excitement and support for our girls team this year."
The Canadian national championships are held for the 15 and 17 year-old age groups only, with teams from every province competing in the annual tournaments.
