The third time proved the charm for the Springbank Soccer Club’s (SSC) 2006-born Tier 1 boys’ team at the Caledonia Cup, held Nov. 8 to 12 in Edmonton. The Caledonia Cup is a nine-vs.-nine, invitational indoor tournament that features U13, U15 and U17 teams from some of the top youth soccer clubs in Alberta. According to SSC Technical Director Chris McKaig, the Springbank club’s top 2006 team has travelled to Alberta’s capital to compete at the Caledonia Cup for the last three years. In 2016, the team came home with the bronze medal, McKaig said, and in 2017, the silver. This year, Springbank finally triumphed by bringing home the gold medal. “We’ve had a history of doing quite well with this group, winning the last couple of years in the indoor season [in Calgary] and finishing top in outdoor,” McKaig said. “The group we have with this Springbank team is strong, right now.” The tournament included a round robin and final match. Playing in the U13 age group, Springbank 06 started its tournament with a 3-0 win over Edmonton Inter, a 1-1 tie vs. the Lethbridge FC Warriors and a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Scottish United 06. “We’ve been playing futsal in Calgary…so it was a bit of a change for us to go to the nine-vs.-nine [format], but we adapted well,” McKaig said. In the gold-medal match Nov. 12, Springbank took on the Foothills FC 13, from Calgary. After a 0-0 draw, SSC won 5-4 in a penalty shootout. McKaig said the SSC players weren’t at their best during the final, but their tactics proved successful in securing a positive result. “We had a few of our regular high performers injured, so we were a little bit decimated in that last game,” he said. “We played a counter-attacking style in the final and managed to get to penalties.” Ziyad Eltrabily was Springbank’s top scorer at the Caledonia Cup, finishing with three goals. Though Springbank 06 is a boys’ team, McKaig said, the squad also includes a 2007-born girl named Maria Georgacacos. “It’s too easy [for her] to play with her own age in the girls’ league, so we’ve got her playing with the boys,” he said. “She’s one year younger, actually, and she’s helping that group really well.” According to McKaig, SSC’s top U13 boys’ team is also playing well in its regular season. Springbank is currently first in Calgary’s Tier 1 U13 indoor league, unbeaten after six matches with 38 goals for and only 13 against. “It’s good to see that the process we’re trying to follow [in our training program] is starting to show some signs of success,” he said. “It’s not about the winning, it’s about how they’re developing – and the players are developing quite well.”
