Shootouts in championship finals are never fun.
For Watson’s Damon Schwartz and Humboldt’s Finlay Hart the feelings of nerves were quickly replaced with feelings of joy as the pair were part of the U17 Saskatoon Selects Provincial Soccer League squad, who captured the U17 provincial title with a 2-1 shootout win over Regina on July 14.
“It was awesome,” said Schwartz of winning the provincial title.
“Everybody was jumping around and we just sprinted at Liam Collins because he scored the winning penalty and we were just ecstatic.”
For Schwartz it was extra special to help the Selects win the provincial title, after not being part of the same club who won the title in 2017.
Neither Schwartz, nor Hart took a shot in the shootout, with both admitting it was tough sitting on the sidelines watching.
Hart called it almost a helpless feeling.
“You can’t do anything about it,” he said.
“No one was sitting down, everyone was standing up as close to the field as they could and it sucked because everyone wants to be out there but you just have to watch and hope.”
With the win the Selects booked the spot as Team Saskatchewan at the 2018 Canada Soccer Toyota National Championship U17 Cup in Surrey, B.C. in October.
The trip to nationals is the second straight for Hart, but just the first for Schwartz, with the Watson native saying he is looking forward to the challenge of a national championship.
“It will be a good learning experience for sure… Just the opportunity to play against some really top class teams and learn from them and get together as a team and really have a good bond together and learn from what we experienced.”
Hart and the rest of the Selects team finished ninth at the national championship in New Brunswick last October, and says he felt they underestimated the tournament as a whole.
“I think everyone’s more mentally prepared and they know what they’re going for,” he said.
With the team set to travel to British Columbia, Schwartz said they will be doing some fundraising to help cover their costs.
One current ongoing fundraiser involves a Sarcan bottle drive, he said.
The Selects will be accepting bottles at Sarcan under the code 9876543210.
The club will be holding many other fundraisers throughout the summer and early fall, with a fundraising goal of $40,000.
Each player on the squad will be reaching out to businesses for potential sponsorship.
The club will also be selling Co-op gift cards, and will be holding a trio of events including a car wash and barbecue, steak night and desert auction, and a wing night.
The Selects kick off their national championship tournament Oct. 3 against Manitoba.
