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The Kincardine District Minor Soccer Club held its annual year-end tournament for all the house league teams, with the tournament champions being crowned Saturday afternoon. 

This season saw more than 650 registered players in the club. With more than 450 players on 42 teams involved in 43 games on the one day, Saturday was without a doubt the busiest day in the local soccer season.

“This is what our whole regular season leads up to,” said club president Stuart Killin.

“All our executive, our coaches, our assistants and managers are volunteers, and they put in a lot of hours over the season, and this is the payoff. We see these kids playing soccer and enjoying themselves, but it wouldn’t happen without our volunteers, so a special thank you goes out to them.”

Jim Grabas, tournament organizer and house league convener, agreed. “People sometimes forget how much something as simple as volunteering one hour of their time can affect an event like this. If we don’t get that help from our teams, this event doesn’t happen, but when we do get it, things run much smoother.”

Teams were asked to provide one parent for one hour to help out with everything from set-up of the awards tent, to parking control and clean-up. While it may seem like a simple process, things are not always what they seem.

“We run into issues each year,” said John Adams, who organized the volunteers’ roster of tasks. “The appeal for help actually starts at registration, and even this year we had situations where teams where unable to find anyone to help out for that single hour. When you look at the time our coaches, assistants and executive put in, it is more than a little frustrating to be pulling teeth at the last minute to get people to help out, especially when we are here for the kids who are playing.”

Those kids start with players as young as age three in the Tim Hortons Timbits leagues. Those leagues were out in full force Saturday competing in a number of spirited contests featuring energetic youngsters decked out in every colour of the rainbow chasing after their game ball en masse. 

Ashlyn Moseley, goalie of the Red Timbits, kicks the ball back into play

While the morning weather co-operated beautifully, an afternoon thundershower put a damper on some of the action, resulting in game cancellations. Fortunately in the Timbits leagues, the main point is to have fun, and game scores are not recorded, so all the players left the pitches with shiny medals hanging from their necks and smiles on their faces.

Colin Griffin of the Yellow Timbits goes after the ball

The Under-8 house-league tournament playdowns led to a battle between the Ripley Get Crackin’ squad and the aptly-named Tiverton Thunder. 

The Ripley squad had torn up the year all season, managing to claim the league championship title by virtue of an impressive 12-0 record. This year’s schedule was based on a world-cup style draw, and Ripley advanced to the "A" final by winning its initial pool, and then downing the Ripley Acciona Storm squad by a final of 3-0. 

Tiverton also claimed its pool title, and then downed the Ripley Green Acres squad by a final of 5-2 to face the powerhouse Get Crackin’ squad in the final. In the end, the Get Crackin’ squad completed its quest for a perfect season, downing the underdog Tiverton squad by a final of 4-1 in what was one of the closest games Get Crackin’ played over the whole season.

The Under-10 tournament featured a similar storyline, as the final again came down to a battle between Ripley and Tiverton. The league champion Ripley Acciona Thrashers were aptly-named, as they also posted a perfect regular season record of 12-0 moving into the tournament. They advanced to the final with victories over CUSW, B&W Appliances, and Dar-Lyn Pools and Spas. 

The Tiverton Thunder squad paved its road to the final with wins over Erie Belle, Ripley RVilla, and AMEC NCL. In the end, the Thrashers continued to dominate the Under-10 league, claiming the tournament championship title by a final of 7-0.

The executive of Kincardine Minor Soccer is already in the early stages of planning for 2012, starting with the Annual General Meeting at the Davidson Centre on Oct. 3, starting at 7 p.m. For more details check the website at www.kincardinesoccer.com

Keno Tiu, goalie for Dar-Lyn Pools and Spas, fires the ball down the field

Jordan Beisel was named Under-8 Remax's most valuable player
Remax photos by Karen Hazzard

Bernard Kapo was named Remax's most improved player

Riley Colhoun was named Remax's most sportsmanlike player

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Sunday, August 28, 2011