A golden opportunity

St. Vital

Garden City

Colony

Fort Garry

Hundreds of soccer teams from across the city and beyond are preparing to take part in the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association’s flagship indoor tournament, the Golden Boy.

The five-day event, which runs Feb. 12 to 16. will be held at four venues — Seven Oaks Soccer Plex (725 Kingsbury Ave.); U of W Axworthy Health & RecPlex (400 Spence St.); South WSF Soccer Complex (211 Chancellor Matheson Rd.); and North WSF Soccer Complex (770 Leila Ave.).

“We are very proud, as it’s always a fantastic tournament,” said Scott Dixon, executive director of WYSA.

Dixon said the event will showcase 154 teams this year, which is four more than last year — and more than 50 of the teams taking part are coming from outside Winnipeg.

“To maximize the number of teams we can accommodate, we communicate our timelines to all organizations we have relationships with, as well as our past participants,” he said.

The flagship tournament is a special fixture on the city’s grassroots soccer calendar for many reasons, not least because it brings the soccer community together with a common goal.

“Having the soccer community in one place together to enjoy the beautiful game is amazing, and having the different venues is one of the main attractions people enjoy. All the staff and volunteers involved are instrumental to its success, and are phenomenal, and seeing the kids having a blast and seeing the smiles on their faces means we’ve planned, prepared and executed this successfully, which is a win for us,” he said.

Bonivital Soccer Club will have several participating teams from its recreational division, “which aligns great with our recreational program and its season,” according to the club’s executive director, Steven Gzebb.

Gzebb said one of the benefits of the tournament format is that it gives youth players a quick turnaround between games.

“It can be really good for the players, as it gives them a multiple number of games in a short space of time, which can be like a reset,” he said.

“It’s like a new mini-season where they don’t have to wait a week for the next game, as it could be in six hours.”

He said tournament play doesn’t present itself that often — “now we get to play new competition, when we often don’t have preconceived ideas about them” — and the fact the tournament is being held on a long weekend helps facilitate travel for the out-of-town teams.

One such competing team is the Thunder Bay Chill, which will be making the journey west.

Marco Colistro, associate technical director for the club, said it generally brings eight-to-10 teams in the U9 to U14 age range.

“It’s a really well-organized event, and it has lots of benefits at the grassroots level,” Colistro said.

“It’s really good for players in their early years, as it shows them the key principals of competition.”

Colistro said the Golden Boy gives his Ontario-based club the chance to measure itself against new opponents.

“Every time you travel to go to a tournament, it gives you the chance to see how you measure up, and a fresh perspective. It’s lots of fun, too,” he said.

Visit www.winnipegyouthsoccer.com for more information.