There was plenty on show over the weekend as hundreds of eager soccer players took to Nelson’s Lakeside fields for the 2024 Terry Walgren Memorial Tournament.
In the tournaments main event, it was Kootenay East who took the title in the under 18s boy’s final, after a close 2-0 finish.
“It was a bit tough for our boys because they had a tough weekend on a personal level.” Said Brett Adams, Technical Director for Nelson Soccer Association.
“There was some personal news over the weekend, and they bounced back and put on a great show.”
“So, that final was an emotional final, but it was a good one and at the end of the day the right team won.”
The tournament boasted teams from all over the Kootenays- Nelson, Trail, Castlegar and the Kootenay East Soccer Association (KESA) which includes Cranbrook, Kimberley and Fernie, as well as others further afield from Canmore and Calgary.
“We are extremely lucky to play where we play soccer down at beautiful lakeside with the backdrop that we have.”
“Not only did we have beautiful weather, but I believe that this was probably one of the most attended tournaments that we’ve ever done, and that’s down to the credit of the people behind the scenes.”
“Lua, who is our chair, and Amanda, who is our Rep Director, just worked incredibly to get all these teams in.”
“And its good for the team to not just play the same teams, that we had a bit of variation.”
And the quality of and contention of the games is only getting better.
“The quality is getting better and better and that’s credit to all associations.” Said Brett.
“In our rep program, we heavily support our coaches in giving them content, session plans and we’re working to get them as many qualifications as possible.”
“We have a group of coaches that last year went away and did their C -license qualification, which is a recognizable professional qualification, but not only that, we ask all of our rep coaches to go on awareness courses that can be anything to do with conduct and safe sport.”
“Because the level of coaching is rising, the level of play is rising. So, you know, these games are getting tighter and closer and there’s no blowout and teams are trying to do it the right way. It’s pretty cool to be honest.”
In honour of Terry Walgren
Terry Walgren is a soccer and local legend in Nelson, and it is only fitting the tournaments pays tribute to his contributions.
“Terry was a soccer guru in our area that sadly passed away many years ago, and because he was so influential in the soccer community, there was this event that was named after him.”
“There’s always that emotional attachment to it, but the name lives on and the tournament gets stronger and stronger.”
A message from Nelson Soccer Association
“A massive thanks to anybody that attended the tournament from local to further afield.” Said Brett.
“We had volunteers in the community that were just turning up at 6:30am to be part of ten to help with setting things up.”
“Obviously, there is a paid staff group, but there was also brilliant volunteers that volunteered many hours this weekend.”
“We couldn’t do it to the level that we did it without those volunteers. So, a massive thank you to them. We just look forward to the next one.”
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