It was a busy weekend for Nakusp Secondary School’s (NSS) junior and senior girls’ Cougars, as they took part in the Attack in the Nak’ soccer tournament.
Many residents came out to support the NSS teams, and there was lots of cheering from the crowd.
Both fought hard, but by the end of the tournament, the girls were getting tired. Part of the reason is some of them play on both junior and senior teams.
“It’s tough with a small school and small numbers,” said Barb Lewis, head coach for the junior Cougars. “We have kids that are exhausted because they’ve been playing with the seniors and the juniors. It’s inevitable, and we just play hard and hope for the school team to make it to the playoffs and to the provincials.”
Despite a strong effort, the junior Cougars couldn’t quite get the energy they needed for a win. They lost their final two matches against the Creston blue team, and the Creston gold team.
Lewis said no matter what the outcome was, she was very proud of her team.
Maria Vazquez, the junior girls MVP for the game, agrees.
“I think we did a good job, and I’m proud of my team today.”
The girls senior team didn’t fare much better. They played in the final game of the tournament against the Invermere Lakers, but lost with a score of 4-1.
“We just ran out of steam in the last game,” said Abbey McMillan, one of players on the senior team. “We could have had it, but the heat gets to everybody, and it was a rough game. It was probably the roughest team we’ve played in the whole tournament.”
Up next for the girls is a tournament this weekend in Osoyoos for small schools from around the province. On May 19, they compete in the Kootenay playoffs to see who makes it to provincials.