Like an avid Lotto Max player, Wayne McCarthy knew numbers would tell the tale.
The volunteer soccer coach knew the New Westminster Senior Secondary’s girls soccer program had barely eked out one roster four seasons ago, without enough players to support a junior program.
Some changes three years ago at the top created a small movement. The payoff came this year with huge turnout at tryouts.
Reflecting a strong Royal City community soccer program, New West is fielding two senior girls squads – Team Black and Team Orange, coached by Greg Ritson – plus a junior team, with the end result being a lot of kids having fun representing their school.
“It was pretty easy to make the choice to go with two senior teams and one junior team. There’s depth at the school that I’ve never seen before,” said McCarthy, the Hyacks’ Black team coach.
Sixty players attended tryouts this spring, making the idea of putting three teams in the Burnaby-New West junior and senior school leagues a no-brainer.
But in fielding two senior teams, the coaches decided not to forgo a shot at a banner – afterall, school pride is a big reason why they all signed up.
“We’re trying to get a banner so one squad, Team Black, is a little stronger. But the second team, Team Orange, is still going to be competitive,” said McCarthy. “The biggest issue for Orange is the lack of a natural goalie. They’ve got several good players though.”
Into its second week of league play, Team Black has emerged as one of the circuit’s stronger squads, going 2-0 with victories over Burnaby North (3-1) and Alpha (1-0).
Against the Vikings, New West got markers from Grade 10 Georgia Brydon, Grade 9 Nisa Reehal and Grade 11 Jamie Lee. Drawing assists were Madisen Obrovac, Sarah McCarthy and Brydon.
In their win over Alpha, the
Hyacks Black surged ahead when
Brianne Lowka converted a rebound midway through the second half.
The Aztec netminder did a tremendous job in keeping the score close, while New West received stellar efforts from Manju Hoonjan, Sarah Stuart, Obrovac and netminder Emma Machuik, who registered four saves in the shutout.
New West’s Orange squad, meanwhile, kicked off the regular season with just 10 players and fell 5-0 to Alpha. In their second contest, and with 11 players in uniform, Orange battled Port Moody before succumbing 3-1, with Grade 10 Brianna Bates cashing in the team’s lone goal.
An April 19 contest between the two New Westminster teams will put in-house bragging rights on the line, but McCarthy said the big picture is all about just playing.
“It was a lot of work convincing girls to come back and play for the school,” he said. “I hope the current participation level continues or even grows.”
