The Sunshine Coast Thunder U12 girls rep soccer team played in their inaugural tournament in Chilliwack during the Aug. 27th weekend.
In the searing heat, the girls played four games in two days, placing third out of six teams.
In their first rep game ever, the Thunder played Chilliwack to a 1-1 draw, with a goal by McKenzie Inksater. The Thunder won in a shootout, with the winning goal by Mikayla Towert.
In the second match, goalkeeper Lydia Harvey Lloyd shut out Williams Lake aided by her speedy defence. Determined play by Hollie Piepjohn and Nisha Wells and goals by Lulu Kammerle and Georgie Aleong eventually paid off in the 2-0 win.
On day two of the tournament, the Thunder squared off with Powell River.
Terrific hustle from Alyssa Rive, Pearl Deasey and Kiah Duffy kept the ball in front of the opponents' net for most of the game. Despite the dominance of the Thunder, they found themselves in another shootout at the end of regulation and lost the match.
In their final game, Thunder met the first place team from Surrey. Strong and speedy defensive play by Emma Cooney and Ingrid Hansen helped to hold the eventual tournament champs to a 0-0 draw at the end of regulation. The Thunder once again lost in the shootout.
The team showed amazing heart in their first outing as a rep team and came out of the tournament without a single regulation loss.
Local instructor trains with MMA legend
Coast martial arts instructor Shawn Phillips was recently in California to train with MMA legend Rickson Gracie.
Gracie is a member of the legendary Gracie family and is considered by many to be the top tactician and fighter in the entire family. Undefeated in more than 400 matches in the cage, on the street and in the sports arena, he has walked the walk, so to speak.
"The opportunity to train with Rickson was incredible," Phillips said. "He not only has a profound understanding of the art of jiu jitsu, he has also tried and tested it in actual combat."
The seminar was attended by practitioners from around the world with a desire to learn from the best.
"We are proud to be able to offer this incredible art here on the Sunshine Coast, even though we don't train for MMA. The self-defence aspect is our goal here at Coast Martial Arts," said Phillips. "And Rickson was quick to point out that is the first and foremost priority of jiu jitsu, so a smaller individual can overcome a larger opponent."
