CAIS U13 Boys Battle Hard in Ottawa

On October 15, the GNS Boys U13 Soccer team journeyed to Ottawa to take part in the 2019 CAIS National Tournament at Ashbury College. After a night’s rest to recover from their day of travel, the boys set off on a tour of the city. Among many other attractions, the team toured the parliament buildings, took a quick stop at a “whispering wall,” saw a small-scale mockup of Ottawa, did some basic training in the war museum, and had dinner at Tucker’s. Day 1The following day, the boys kicked off the tournament with a great first game against Ashbury, with Jamie Burnett ’24 securing their first goal of the tournament. They won the game 4-1. “Scoring the first goal was a highlight of the tournament for me,” said Jamie. With spirits high, Game 2 against St. John’s-Ravenscourt School started off with another goal for GNS, quickly followed by two more and some great defensive plays by Theo from the centre back position. After an exciting goal from the left-hand side, GNS won 4-0, then moved on to a game against Georgia Strait rival St. George’s Senior School. The game was evenly matched, with lots of back-and-forth play and near-misses on both sides. A great save by Alex Palm ’25 kept the score at a nil-nil draw. “I dove and managed to get a one-handed save, which was pretty good,” Alex said. Even a few extremely close chances weren’t enough, and the game ended in a hard-fought draw.”We played really good on the first day,” Luca Hildebrand ’25 added. “And the other teams were nice, which was cool!” Day 2 The second day dawned blustery and grey, starting off with another well-matched game, this time against Selwyn House. Selwyn was up by one at halftime. The second half saw a goal by GNS and another by Selwyn, and despite many great chances the game finished 2-1 for Selwyn House. After a brisk warmup, the Gryphons took on Saltus Grammar School. The game was close overall, finishing 3-0 Saltus. Day two finished with a game against West Point Grey, who offered a tough challenge with a goal right out of the gate. They proved to be a formidable opponent, and though GNS pushed back hard and scored two goals, they lost 2-5 to West Point Grey. Day 3 Day three saw the final game of the tournament against Crescent School. Cheered on once again by a contingent of parent supporters, GNS scored an early goal. The team stayed strong throughout with two more goals and lots of awesome chances, only to solidify a 3-1 win for GNS. It was a perfect way to cap off the tournament before the team headed back home to Victoria. “It was some of our best soccer!” said Griffin Webb ’25 of the strong finish to the tournament. Great work Gryphons! Also, a shout out to our fantastic parent contingent who made the trip to Ottawa – the whole team appreciated the support! PHOTO GALLERY