Doug Sweetapple believes the Western Wolves proved to be a formidable opponent at the provincial level in the Under-13 male bracket and he expects things will be even better this summer with some of the top players in different pockets of the region wearing the Wolves jersey this year.
Sweetapple, who is director of coaching for the Corner Brook Minor Soccer Association, said the Wolves didn’t qualify for the playoffs but he was proud of how they were competitive in most games with low scores all around and only a deep Feildians team proving to be too strong for them.
“It wasn’t like they were totally out of it,” Sweetapple said earlier this week.
The Wolves are back in the fold again this year with a roster that was apparently tough to select, with players in western Newfoundland and extended boundaries to central showing up for training camp earlier this year.
The idea was to build a team with the best 13-year-old players in the region and Sweetapple believes the support of towns in the region made it possible for them to attract a pool of talent that is expected to hold its own in the six-team provincial setup that is expected to get underway in May.
“We did a better job of recruitment this year and there just more communities represented and each community has good players,” Sweetapple said.
The Western Wolves will also field teams in the provincial U15 and U17 male league and provincial U15 female soccer league. The Wolves have a U1U female squad put together but it’s not entered in the provincial league, and the Wolves have a U17 female team that opted not to compete at the provincial level and will compete in the Corner Brook women’s soccer league this summer.
Sweetapple believes the Wolves entry in the provincial U15 male league should be better this season as well with some of the players from last year’s provincial U13 team moving up the ranks with a year of experience under their belts.
That’s something he sees as a positive sign that the investment in the U13 division will pay dividends down the road by having experienced players fill out the rosters for years to come.
Having a team full of 13-year-olds is the goal for teams at this level with the provincial soccer association firm on its stance that players 12 years old stay immersed in the long-term development plan and compete in the mega tournament where they don’t keep score and the focus is more about showing players things like how to beat a player one-on-one than it is on scoring goals and winning championships. Any region can get permission to use 12-year-olds in the case where the numbers aren’t great and Western has a couple of players a year younger named to the roster.
“Player development suffers so they would prefer that 12-year-olds stay in the mega tournament where they can just concentrate on their development as a player,” he said.
Western Wolves
U13 male soccer team roster
Sebastien Locke (Corner Brook Minor Soccer Association)
Ryan Brake (Corner Brook Minor Soccer Association)
Alex Kelloway (Gander Minor Soccer Association)
Karrar Jaber (Stephenville Minor Soccer Association)
Ethan March (Stephenville Minor Soccer Association)
Evan Sargent (Gander Minor Soccer Asssociation)
Liam Dutcher (Stephenville Minor Soccer Association)
Caleb Rasleigh (Corner Brook Minor Soccer Association)
Ryan Simmons (Deer Lake Minor Soccer Association)
Ian Wall (Exploits Minor Soccer Association)
Matthew Nichols (Deer Lake Minor Soccer Association)
Adam Pinsent (Gander Minor Soccer Association)
Isaac Buckingham (Corner Brook Minor Soccer Association)
Liam McIsaac (Stephenville Minor Soccer Association)
Evan Hefferan (Stephenville Minor Soccer Association)
Michael Canning (Gander Minor Soccer Association)
Jackson Fleming (Stephenville Minor Soccer Association)
Noah Belliveau (Stephenville Minor Soccer Association)
Ethan Connolly (Corner Brook Minor Soccer Association)
Braeden Price (Corner Brook Minor Soccer Association)
