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Whitehorse United sent five teams to the Richmond Thanksgiving soccer tournament in Richmond, B.C. recently.

The 30th annual tourney took place Oct. 7-8.

The five teams were composed of a total of 68 players. The players had nine coaches, five managers and at least 20 supporting chaperones accompany them.

Of the five teams, three were female. The list included the U12, U14 and U16 girls teams and the U12 and U14 boys teams.

The Star spoke to one of the coaches of the U14 boys, Paul Inglis.

鈥淚t was good,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e ended up winning our division. A lot of fun. We won all our games, which we鈥檝e never done before. Previously, this was our fifth tournament playing 11 (players) outside and we only won one game previously. So to win all four was pretty exciting.鈥�

When asked about the consistency of his team, Inglis said, 鈥淚t was mostly smooth sailing, to be honest. We scored first and early in each game. The third game was against another team that was winning pretty comfortably as well. So we knew that would be a tough game. And we ended up scoring in the first few minutes. And then it was a really close game until part-way through the second half, when we scored another one, and then the other team kind of faded away after that.鈥�

Inglis felt very proud of his U14 boys.

鈥淚t was exciting. I mean, to be honest, coming through this made me realize that it鈥檚 really hard for us to know where we fit, because we don鈥檛 have a league out here, right? Our warmup games were against an adult co-ed rec team. And so we don鈥檛 have a good sense of where we fit in other tournaments, which division we should be in. So we signed up for div three in this one and we pretty comfortably won it. So, obviously, from that, we鈥檙e going to try out div two next year and see how that goes. We have previously gone to tournaments, signed up for div three, got pushed into (division) four and gotten pretty comprehensively beaten so it鈥檚 a bit hard to know; each tournament is different. But this was a fun tournament. It was really well run, really well organized, so kudos to the Richmond United Football Club for putting on an awesome tournament. And we鈥檇 like to come back to this. But if we do, we鈥檒l know that we can play up a division. So that鈥檚 exciting.鈥�

The kids were also ecstatic after their tournament win.

鈥淭hey were super excited,鈥� related Inglis. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had much success, going down. It鈥檚 a good group of kids, they have a lot of fun together. We make a point of making sure that fun is a big part of it and then we don鈥檛 stress too much about the scores. So even when we鈥檝e gone to tournaments and not done particularly well, we still end up having fun at the tournament. It鈥檚 a big event, right? Going on a trip like that. It was nice to have a bit of success, because we haven鈥檛 had any. We鈥檝e gone to tournaments and been in games and close. Our last tournament was in Kamloops and we lost two really close games and we tied two games and then we could have won any of those, but to actually win, it鈥檚 pretty exciting. For sure.鈥�

When asked about what this win means for the future of Yukon Soccer, Inglis said, 鈥淲ell, I think it means a few things. I think it means it shows that we need to pick the tournaments we go to. You know, we鈥檝e gone to tournaments that were showcase tournaments that were way above our level.

鈥淏ut I know it鈥檒l give some of the younger kids some real enthusiasm because just seeing an older team win something can provide a lot of motivation and a lot of excitement. So I think that鈥檒l be really cool for the younger Whitehorse United Football Club teams and it鈥檚 gonna motivate our guys. They鈥檙e going to be pretty keen on that and they鈥檙e gonna go down to the next tournament and thinking that they could do something, which is pretty motivating as well.鈥�

Inglis said his team will be shifting to indoor soccer now until April at the Field house in the Canada Games Centre.

They don鈥檛 have any tournaments planned at this time, but Inglis pointed out that the Arctic Winter Games are coming up. He said that that will include some of their players but not all of them, as only nine players go to the Games.

鈥淲e had 16 go to the tournament; we鈥檝e got about 20 on the team. So that can be really disruptive but we鈥檙e hoping to get through that. We got to the last one without losing. We lost a couple of players after that, but we managed to get through it, so I鈥檓 hoping we can do the same this time. And then keep everybody together. Keep everybody around and having fun over the winter and then we鈥檙e gonna aim to go back to the Kamloops tournament that we went to May long weekend this year. We want to go back to that one.鈥�

When asked about standout players, Inglis said he felt the entire team deserved praise.

鈥淚 would like to really emphasize just how much of a team this is. These guys get along, really. They had a lot of fun together. I think part of the success comes from them having fun. They鈥檙e not hard on each other. They鈥檙e really supportive of each other. It鈥檚 a pretty awesome group. I also kind of want to give a bit of a shout out to the parents that we鈥檝e got. They鈥檙e all really supportive.

鈥淎nd also these guys have been doing fundraising to help pay for the tournament. And they put together a couple work crews to help people get ready for winter by raking leaves, stacking wood and that kind of thing. And that鈥檚 been really awesome too. They鈥檝e been out working really hard, trying to raise money and I think something even kind of more notable about that is that they鈥檙e raising money, not just for themselves, but the whole point of this is to raise some money to be able to play. There鈥檚 some players that are going to have a much harder time of paying to go to a tournament like this. It鈥檚 expensive to go to a tournament like this and so the idea of fundraising is that it鈥檚 a real team thing and it is to help other families that needed a little bit more and all working together and they鈥檝e had a ton of fun doing it, but they鈥檝e been working really hard. That鈥檚 been really awesome to see.鈥�

Inglis added, 鈥淚鈥檇 like to give a shoutout also to Whitehorse United Football Club. This whole thing is all volunteer driven. There鈥檚 one part-time paid employee. There鈥檚 a lot that gets done because there are hundreds and hundreds of kids that play for Whitehorse United and it鈥檚 a ton of work and it鈥檚 almost all volunteer driven. I think the volunteers don鈥檛 get enough of a pat on the back because it really makes a difference for a lot of these kids.

鈥淚 know that there are some kids that coming into soccer is the highlight of their week. And it all comes down to the volunteers that are on the board and that do all of the support work for Whitehorse United.鈥�