The 2019 Western Canada Summer Games in Swift Current, Sask. seem far away, but for NWT Soccer the time is now.
Close to 70 young players from around the territory converged on the Fieldhouse for the selection camp that will determine the training squad that will compete for spots on the boys and girls teams that will represent the NWT next July. Gina Michel and Isaac Ayiku, the girls and boys head coaches respectively, put the young players through their paces beginning this past Saturday.
“They're very excited and energetic and it's definitely a good bunch of players,” said Ayiku after the opening day of training.
Day one of training saw the coaches put the players go through drills so they could get to know each other.
Ayiku said the goal was to jump right into things and see how everyone would adjust.
“The ones that are capable will adjust right away,” he said. “There are ones that will take a bit longer but that's why we had eight sessions scheduled so we'll get a good look at them. If there are a few late bloomers, we'll pick them out right away.”
Some of those who tried out have had experience playing at the Arctic Winter Games but this is much different than futsal, the discipline used at the Games.
But even though some were good enough to make those AWG teams, Ayiku said there are no free passes to Swift Current and it's a clean slate with no favourites or any sort of pre-conceived notions.
“We toss everything from the past out the window,” he said. “It's been a while since we've seen any of these players and some we don't know a lot about, so the main thing is a year has gone by since their last big tryout and a lot can happen in their development in a year. The best thing we decided upon was just let them go out and everyone starts fresh.”
It's all about trusting what you've got because it's a tryout, he added.
“Whoever performs and shows they can play the game will be worthy to be picked,” he said. “I, or any of the other coaches for that matter, don't play the game of having players selected before the camp. What you've done in the past doesn't matter here.”
In past years, the Western Canada Summer Games served as a developmental tool for the Canada Summer Games but that's all changed now. The Western Games are a stand-alone event and there's a two-year cycle in place to help get the teams ready for 2019.
“The Westerns are a major games now,” said Ayiku. “The Canada Games program is no longer affiliated with the Western Canada Summer Games so it's not so much using players from this to help with Canada Games. We treat Westerns as a separate program now and it's separate from the Canada Games selection.”
Because next year will be the second year of preparation, the plan is to take the boys to a tournament in Ventura, California where they'll get a different style of training and development in time for the Western Games.
Even though it was a long layoff from the winter, Ayiku said he liked what he saw from his players and they're willing to fight for their spots.
“There's a lot of real good skilled players out there and it's exciting,” he said.