John Paul II Soccer teams prepared for provincial championship

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“This year we had a lot of girls come out to try out. I’m really excited about the traction that the program is going in the future,” said head coach Cassandra Shepard. 

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“I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished so far this season.” 

Shepard joked that her team has had to deal with every weather condition that Saskatchewan has. 

She said the experience has taught the girls to adjust their play to the conditions. 

“Weather changes the game. You have to adjust your passing, your first touch, your communication and sometimes your entire approach to the game,” she said in a followup message. 

“So whatever Yorkton throws at us this weekend, I think the girls will be ready. They’ve certainly had enough practice.” 

Shepard described communication as the team’s biggest strength. 

“They are great at letting each other know what they are seeing on the field. If one person is getting beat, they see the opportunities on the other side and they’re always relaying that information,” she said. 

Heading into provincials, the team hopes to build on the success of former players who now help train the next generation. 

“The school reached provincial finals in 2003, 2004, 2005, and they won a provincial championship during that stretch as well,” Shepard said. 

Shepard made it clear the girls aren’t going to provincials just to take part. 

“We are going back to get that win, the win that we thought we should have had in the end at VCA,” she said. “We had a good chat, about 45 minutes. We sat together talking about, we went through what we’re proud of, what we wanted to improve on and how we wanted to approach provincials.” 

Boys Crusaders 

The boys’ team had a short exhibition season, playing North Battleford Comprehensive High School (NBCHS) and Martensville. 

The boys lost both games against NBCHS and their first meeting with Martensville before turning things around. 

“We ended up playing them again and we were able to come out with a win there, kind of leading us into our regionals that we had this past weekend,” said head coach Dawson Smith. 

At regionals, they beat Big River in the semifinals before a 1-0 victory over Humboldt secured the regional title. 

While communication is a strength for the girls’ team, Smith said versatility is one for the boys. 

“We got quite a few boys who not only are soccer athletes, but they play other sports such as volleyball, football and whatnot. And I think that plays into the strengths of just putting boys wherever they can go,” he said. 

The boys’ provincial championships are in North Battleford, which Smith thinks will be an advantage. 

“It’ll be nice for the boys not to travel and have stiff legs from going in a van all day,” he said. “Hopefully we can get a few members of the community out to come and cheer us on, but I think that’ll be an advantage that we have.” 

After a slow start, the team heads into provincials with an underdog mentality. The boys open play Friday at 2 p.m. 

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Ryan.Lambert@pattisonmedia.com