News
Weather
Classifieds
Opinions
Special Reports
Photo Gallery

Home
About Us
FAQ
Links
Advertising

Carstairs Courier
Didsbury Review
Innisfail Province
Mountain View Gazette
Olds Albertan
Sundre Round Up

Commercial Printing
Great West Newspapers

Five young soccer enthusiasts are gearing up to represent the region at the upcoming summer games, that start later this week.

Jason Nysten, Mitchel Welland, Ethan Gelleny, Terran Cavanaugh and Tanner Campbell - all of Carstairs - made it through all the rounds of cuts, and are ready to take on the best of the best from throughout the province.

It's pretty impressive that five boys would be selected from small-town Carstairs, as the zone is quite large. It takes in areas as far north as Olds and as far south as Okotoks, including Airdrie and Cochrane.

According to Rolland Massinon, the coach for the team who was always involved in the final cuts, he says they were looking for players that showed it all.

"We were looking for physical ability and attitude and things like that," he said.

Massinon says that these Carstairs boys show great spirit and skill.

The team was picked a month ago, and since then - like all athletes attending the upcoming summer games - they are working hard at not only trying to get conditioned themselves, but learning things about each other.

To date, according to Massinon, the boys have played in two tournaments - one in St. Albert and another in Red Deer last weekend. The point of the tournaments, even though they played well, wasn't to necessarily come out on top, the coach explained.

"We aren't necessarily putting the best players out there during tournaments. We are just trying to learn (about each player), each play and each position so that it gives everyone a chance to prove what they can do," he said. "When it comes down to the summer games, some guys might not get to play as much. So, right now we are watching the players and figuring out who is good at what."

One of the players who will be attending the summer games - Jason Nysten, is excited to be involved.

"I'm most excited about the amount of people that will be attending the summer games, mainly because it is my first time," Nysten said.

He added at the same time that with the sheer amount of people that will be competing it does make him a little bit nervous at the same time.

"The most challenging things will be the competition (I think)," he said.

Nysten has been playing soccer locally for a number of years, and fell in love with the sport while he was a student at Midway School - east of Carstairs.

"I have played soccer for about eight years. The main reason I was so involved in soccer was because I played it every recess at my old school, Midway (School)."

The team plays Friday and Saturday, both at 9 a.m. and are also guaranteed to play on Sunday, but the time has yet to be determined.