SC Central Alberta's U13 boys soccer team had a season to remember.
After wrapping up the season on Sunday, Feb. 23, the local club officially finished the 2024-25 indoor soccer season with the best record in the Tier II Edmonton Minor Soccer Association (EMSA) league.
"This team had a tough year last year. Most of those players returned this season, though there were a couple changes. Coming into the start of the season, I don't think there were any expectations from the players or the parents that anything magical would happen this season," said head coach David McLean.
"We got of to a bad start — we lost our first two games in a pre-season tournament. Then in our first couple exhibition games we got wins. Our practices were really good — it's a great group of boy and they're professional. They're easy to coach, easy to talk to, they listen and they're disciplined. From there on we kept building momentum."
The team went 11-1 in league play, scoring 34 goals and allowing just five against.
"There's an old saying: 'Goals can win games, but defences will win you leagues.' We've been so good defensively as a unit and that's allowed our attacking players to thrive," said McLean.
"We won some games this year 1-0 or 2-1. Keeping the games tight and coming out with victories has led to us winning the league."
This was the first time a Red Deer team has won a league title in EMSA.
"The last couple games saw some closer results, but even then we were able to dig in and get the results we needed. With a game left in the season, we had the top record in the league, making us the champions," said McLean.
"We were up in Edmonton on the day we won the league. There was almost a sense of relief. I think we were starting to feel a bit of pressure. There were a couple practices that weren't great. You could tell there were thoughts of, 'We only need to win one of our last two. But what if we don't?' When we won there was plenty of joy. Now we're gearing up for provincials (in Calgary)."
SC Central's first game at provincials is March 14.
The team is comprised of: Lucas Hansen, Mateo Diz, Tobin Grimbeek, Jelani Ogaja, Ben Fongyen, Yonael Okubay, Ezekiel Breitkreutz, Gavin Carlson, Isaac Koffi, Keanan Valiquette, Jackson Jennings, Nathan Evans, Taye Frank, Patrick Noolan and Max Drew. Ahmed Jamaluddin was the team's assistant coach.
