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 with Samantha Samuelson, who coached the U12 boys, Thursday.

“I think it went really well,” related Samuelson. “The teams all improved upon their performance in May. So this is the third or fourth tournament in a row that we’ve taken five teams out. In May we took a whole plane. Air North did a whole plane for us. They made a new route for us to Kamloops for the May long weekend. That was really one of the first tournaments where we were playing, trying to sort ourselves out and everyone did well then but I think everyone’s performance improved in this tournament.”

The May tourney was the Slurpee cup.

This was the first time they’ve gone on the Thanksgiving trip. Samuelson said they were trying to fit the teams into more appropriate divisions this time around.

“I think we succeeded,” she said.

Each team played four games in the event.

“All the games were close for every team except for the U14 boys, who won their division,” recalled Samuelson. “They won by quite a lot.”

Samuelson was pleased with her U12 boys’ team’s performance.

“I was so proud of them. They worked so hard and they supported each other really well. There was no complaints about playing time. We of course always want to give them equal playing time. But they all wanted to be on the field.

“They worked really hard. Leading up to this tournament, all summer they trained twice a week. So they’ve put in tons of effort and it’s nice that they they get to go out and have a little bit of a reward.”

That reward included a trip to Richmond’s trampoline park.

The U12’s had a pretty successful tournament. The won their first game 8-0, tied the second game 4-4, then lost two close games, 2-1 and 1 or 2-0. However, Samuelson said for this team, the tourney wasn’t about the results.

“The kids still know the results and still feel the wins and losses, which is great, but that’s not the reason why we went. We went for the experience.

“This is about testing their skills that they’ve worked really hard on and I was so proud of their behaviour and their manners and the way they represented Yukon. I think after every game, they talked to the kids on the other team and there was so much curiosity about Whitehorse and where we were from, and they were super ambassadors.”

Samuelson added, “In all their games they put in effort right till the end. They never gave up. They worked hard and were kind. They didn’t get really any fouls called on them. Nobody questioned the referee, the parents were respectful. Everyone had a fabulous time.”

Samuelson said she was pleased with the team’s performance.

“They certainly aren’t outmatched by any of the teams down there. At times we controlled the possession and it was great. They got some chances to score some goals.”

The kids were happy with how they played as well.

“The first game when they won by quite a lot, they were a little bit shocked, I think because in May, we were in every game but we we won one game and I think we lost three but we just won by one goal or something and right away, in the first half they were up by quite a few goals and I think they were a little bit surprised at first, but quite pleased.

“The next game that we played where we tied we actually came from behind, so they were pretty pumped about that, that they were able to learn as we went and that’s the thing that I find so exciting is that in these experiences, because they don’t get to play very many games, they learn so quickly. They adapt and they adjust. They got down a couple goals and they just dug in and kept putting in the effort doing the things that they know how to do and they were a lot better at passing and possession and having a plan than many of the other teams.”

Samuelson said they nearly got the go-ahead goal in the game but ran out of time.

As for what’s next, the teams start a new indoor season. Their next scheduled trip is back to the tournament in Kamloops in May.

Samuelson added, “These trips do act as a conduit to getting exposure and chances with bigger teams and bigger leagues down south. And I think that they’re super important and not only are they enjoyable, but the kids grow a lot and learn a lot and they get to see what’s out there and they get to be seen too.”

The Star will have more on the Richmond tournament next week.