Bonivital U17 boys kicking up a storm

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/10/2017 (2942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Bonivital U17 boys’ soccer team feels on top of the world.

That’s because the southeast Winnipegbased team beat CS Mistral from Sherbrooke, Que., 3-1 to win the 2017 Canadian championship in Fredericton, N.B., on Oct. 9.

“It feels phenomenal, it’s just a fantastic feeling,” Tony Mazza, the team’s head coach, told The Lance after returning home to Winnipeg.

The team posted an impressive 5-0 record and +17 goal difference in the tournament, and all three goals in the final were scored by hat-trick hero Rinor Hoxha, who finished the tournament as joint-top scorer. The victory was even sweeter in light of the heartbreaking loss the team suffered as in last year’s U16 final to Edmonton’s Juventus in Saskatoon, Sask.

“It feels a bit like a dream, a bit surreal, and so proud of the boys,” Mazza said. “I’m ecstatic, as this is an incredible accomplishment. And to think that a week and half ago we were on a training pitch getting ready for the tournament.”

When asked about the secret to the team’s success, Mazza, who has been coaching with Bonivital for the last four years, said “motivation is a key word.”

“In the beginning, I’d coached another team before, so I knew what it took to become competitive, and these boys are an extremely talented group,” Mazza said.

“So I sat down with a plan and a goal in mind, and I knew the players needed to buy into it and train hard three or four times a week. Basically, it’s about bringing a group of players together and developing a system that works for the players. We have big boys and we have fast boys, so we developed a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond shape in the middle and it just seemed to work, so we went from there.”

And from there comes now, and a monumental victory that has everyone at the club fired up.

“For us, this is the Holy Grail. It’s huge. We’re one of the largest clubs in the city in terms of enrolment, and we have a great youth system, so this absolutely huge. This reinforces the effort that everyone at the club has put in,” Mazza added.

The team’s assistant coach is Greg Nordman and the team manager is Jodi Martin. The team’s captain, Jake Martin, was delighted with the achievements of his side and thrilled they went one better this time around.

“It feels amazing,” said Martin, 17, a Grade 12 student at Glenlawn Collegiate.

“Truthfully, I also feel relieved. After last year’s second-place finish we felt like we had unfinished business. As a team, we had a goal for this season and we worked very hard. Most of us sacrificed our 2017 summer for soccer but we wouldn’t have had it any other way. I still can’t believe that it happened the way that it did. It was literally our last game together as a team and what a last game to share. I have been teammates with a few of these guys since I was nine or 10, so it’s a memory that I will enjoy forever.”

The left back, who played in a central defensive midfield role for most of the tournament due to injuries to other players, offered another reason for the team’s success.

“The secret to the team’s success is truly a love for the game. We were dedicated and worked hard for this. We trusted each other’s ability to bring their own best to every game. We all knew what we capable of as a team. Tony saw this, too, and pushed us towards success. We are very proud,” Martin said.

Bonivital’s U15 boys’ team took home the bronze medal at its national tournament in Calgary, Alta., after defeating Ontario’s London Youth Whitecaps 1-0. The club’s U17 girls’ team finished fourth after losing a heartbreaker 1-0 to Suburban FC from Nova Scotia in the bronze medal game.