The Prince Rupert U12 Rep girls team won their season opener 4-0 against a Lax Kw’alaams team on Saturday.
Coast Tsimshian Academy (CTA) sent their girls to the Charles Hays Secondary School field for a match against the Rupert squad. For CTA, their team is just starting out so it was more of a learning experience for them. Rupert is in their second season as a rep team, although they haven’t played many games yet.
“They were good, but we definitely have a lot to work on,” commented Rupert’s head coach Patricia DeMille.
The coach said they worked hard, but were clumping up a bit and need to work on some of the procedural stuff like what to do positionally when there’s a corner kick, goal kick or a throw-in. However, the girls are really coming along, she said.
Noriko Ikari was one player DeMille mentioned that stood out.
“She was constantly finding an open position and moving to that. I was really happy to see that,” she said.
Much of the U12 squad are new players who have just moved into the division, so the girls are still learning how to gel together but DeMille is just happy the sport is picking up.
“I’m really excited to see soccer becoming a lot more popular with girls. This age group is really starting to take off,” she said.
Next up is a date with Terrace on May 27, although CTA has invited Rupert back so they plan to put that on the schedule as well. The girls also hope to play the U12 Rupert boys team at some point. DeMille said although there aren’t a lot of games on the schedule, she just wants to get the girls in as much action as possible so that they continue to improve.