Three Marine Harvest Riptide teams have clinched first place in their respective league play: U18 boys, U18 girls and U16 girls. There are also a couple of teams with 1-2 games remaining in league play that also have their eyes set on ending league play at the top of the table: U15 girls and U14 boys. In fact the U15 girls have a home and home series against Victoria North to determine who finishes at the top of the table. Importantly all VIPL teams will qualify for the post-season following league play.
The VIPL post-season commences the weekend of February 24-25 for teams playing in the quarter finals. Most of the Riptide Teams will likely advance directly to the semi-finals the weekend of March 3-4 due to the number of teams in each division and/or where the team finished in the standings.
The goal of our program is to see all teams compete for the opportunity to advance beyond the post-season and earn the right to participate in the A-Cup Provincials in July 2018. Last year, we had eight teams in the finals on the last day of post-season and were lucky enough to have three teams qualify for the provincials. The key to our success is working all season long towards having each of our teams peak at the right time for the play-offs. It has been an absolute pleasure to observe each of our teams in these final stages of league play and see them peaking at the exact time we have been working toward the past 6 ½ months. Win, lose or draw we are very proud of our program, our players, the coaches, staff and managers. In fact, we observe growth in many ways each time we see our teams train and play. It is a rare and unique pleasure to be able to watch so many young athletes pushing themselves on and off the field. To improve themselves at the game of soccer, academically and also to be positive community members.
We are very proud of the commitment of all players with the Riptide Program and consider the league play and post-season a valuable way to monitor the players development. We are also very proud of the efforts of our graduating class and players looking into a post-secondary education and planning to pursue soccer once they graduate from the Riptide:
– Maddy Harris (2002) and Ally Carpendale (2001) recently visited UNBC for a campus tour and trained with the team
– Shohei Iwamoto (2000) and Jared Perras (2000) are training with the UVIC Vikes this month
– Tony Powsey (2000) has been training with VIU Women’s Team
– Olivia Sellentin (2000) has been out to visit Dalhousie and St. Francis Xavier Universities
– Kaleigh Harris (2000) has been to visit Dalhousie and Lethbridge Universities
– Jaylon Grenier (2000) has been out to visit Queen’s University and McMaster University
– Chirs Fisher (2001) has been approached by the University of Guelph
– Cullen Bullhozer (2000) will be attending the TRU Open Camp
– Cameron Kearns (2000) and Emma Skalik have been approached by the University of Lethbridge
– The U18 Riptide Girls team will be playing exhibition games against Peninsula College (Port Angeles), VIU and UIVC in the coming weeks.
We are now in the midst of planning our spring academy, which includes all current U14-U16 boys and girls teams and will also be open to non-Riptide players born 2007-2002. The spring academy runs from April 10 to June 14 and includes two training sessions weekly plus a game day on the weekend. There are special events including 7-aside tournaments with teams from across Vancouver Island, as well as the opportunity to attend a Whitecaps game. The Riptide Technical Team Coaches Ken Garraway, Stephen Hall, Ash Mohtadi and Shel Brodsgaard with all be the lead coaches in the academy. There will also be a specialized trainer for the goalkeepers and a host of mentor coaches from within the Riptide Program to train with, educate and motivate the younger participants. Each spring we come together for a 10-week block of training, games, fun, relationship building and community building. There is an Academy information meeting planned for March 5th, 2018 with the time and location to be determined. Online program registration is now open at:
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