Moving up usually means levelling up.
And in the case of Okotoks United, the move up a tier at the provincial level yielded the same result with the core of the team repeating as gold medallists at the Alberta Soccer Girls U17 Tier 1 Provincial Championships in Edmonton on March 19.
“It was a really special moment and really emotional for us having come all the way from Tier 4 for some people,” said Okotoks United midfielder Gracyn Sekura. “Then having the team in Tier 2 last year and now being able to take it that one step further to Tier 1.
“It was a show of how much effort we put into the season and how much we all wanted this.”
Four of the players on the roster — Sekura, Julia Len, Kailey Craig and Maria Regner — won gold at the U12 Tier 4 provincials in 2018 and have helped to level up the team gradually to higher and higher levels culminating in the Tier 1 banner.
“Over the years, we’ve added a couple of players here and there. And we’re the weird team that focused on the team culture rather than just attracting the top talent,” said Okotoks coach Nathan Len.
“We added three this season, and we were looking for the overall fit with the existing girls, the attitude, are they nice people? And then talent was second behind that.”
The team had an inauspicious start to the campaign, leading to a change in tactics to a more defensive approach against the higher calibre squads in Tier 1.
The switch-up had the desired effect.
“We reinvented how the team played and forced everyone to play slightly different,” said coach Len. “Changing mid-season for any team is insanely difficult and these girls just ate it up, went with it and we’ve basically been untouchable since January.”
Okotoks went undefeated with three wins and a draw at provincials and crucially did not allow a goal against in four games at the championships.
“We basically frustrated the heck out of all the other teams,” the coach added. “We didn’t score much, but conceded zero goals and when you concede zero goals, you don’t get beat.”
Goalkeeper Cassandra Pasveer backstopped United to four clean sheets with all three victories of the 1-0 variety.
“We made sure that all of our defenders were back and the midfielders and strikers were swinging back to help defend,” said Okotoks United striker Julia Len. “Our goalie Cassie just did an amazing job and had a bunch of really good saves.”
In the gold medal final, Okotoks took a bite out of the previously undefeated Edmonton Sting 1-0.
Abby Shaw’s late first-half tally held up as the game and provincial winner.
“Off the field, they’re all amazing and I think it’s just that collective feeling of belonging to something,” said coach Len. “All it takes is one player to raise their level and everybody else raises around them.
“I think that really is the key. This is the most cohesive unit on and off the field that I’ve ever seen.”
Okotoks was in provincial action on two other fronts on the March 17-19 weekend.
United won bronze in the Boys U19 Tier 2 competition in Calgary.
In the third-place final, Okotoks received goals from Dan Hudson, Brody Nekoba and Xander Zwanepoel to edge NCFC Milan by a 3-1 count.
Also in the Stampede City, Okotoks just missed out on the podium with a fourth-place finish at the Boys U15 Tier I championships with a 1-0 loss to New Frontier SC in the medal round.
For more information, visit okotoksunitedsoccer.ca.
