B.C.HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER
With all the rain that has been pelting the West Coast of late, Richard Fast isn't even considering donning his rose-coloured sunglasses for the B.C. triple-A high school boy's soccer championship that begins Thursday in Burnaby.
The Oak Bay coach knows where his team stands: Not among the favourites in the 16-team competition, that also includes Dover Bay, the No. 1-ranked Island representative from Nanaimo.
"We're underdogs, we're in a tough group with Vancouver College and Tamanawis, which is the No. 1 Fraser Valley team, so they'll be very strong," said an open and forthcoming Fast.
"We're a bit of a surprise team. We didn't fare well in the Colonist Cup, or the league for that matter, but we somehow put together a pretty good Island tournament."
Oak Bay lost the Island championship to Dover Bay in penalty kicks almost three weeks ago.
The Bays are in Pool C at the provincial event with Vancouver College, Tamanawis and Heritage Woods, the No. 6 Fraser Valley seed. Oak Bay opens with an 11 a.m. game against V.C., before the Heritage Woods game at 2: 45 p.m. The Bays wrap up Pool play on Friday morning against Tamanawis at 9 before medal-round games begin.
"Vancouver schools are always strong," said Fast.
"They have large populations and schools to draw from."
A vast difference from the Island where there are just three teams that compete out of the North including Dover Bay, Cowichan and Powell River. There are another handful in the Victoria area. But that doesn't mean Fast's crew is going to roll over.
"Defensively, we just need to continue to do what we're doing," said Fast. "We gave up a lot of goals early in the year via mistakes, inexperienced play and not being familiar with each other.
"What we've been able to do is come together as the year went on, peaking at the right time and putting it together for the Island tournament. We're a different team now, than we were at the start."
Oak Bay is led by a solid midfield in captain Scott Jones, who plays with the Highlanders' Under-21 program, Connor McDi-armid and Liam Farrar.
Meanwhile, the double-A championship began Monday in Burnaby with St. Michaels University School drawing 0-0 with Sa-Hali (Kamloops) in their opener before defeating Sands (from Delta) 1-0 in Game 2.
SMUS dropped a 2-0 decision to Cariboo Hill (Burnaby), which topped Pool D.
Gulf Island Secondary of Saltspring is the other Vancouver Island representative and the Scorpions lost 2-0 to Archbishop Carey (Port Coquitlam) and tied Summerland 1-1 on Monday before bouncing back for a 4-1 win over D.P. Todd (Prince George) on Tuesday morning in Pool C.
Both Island teams finished second in their pools, leaving them out of medal contention.
