A couple of Cowichan Valley soccer teams got to see how they do things across the pond when they played host to teams from Kenilworth School in Warwickshire, England on April 10.
Both the U15 and U14 Gold Cowichan teams lost 4-0 to their Kenilworth counterparts, but still took something positive away from the event, which included billetting 28 students from England.
“It was a great experience for the boys,” Cowichan U15 coach Ron Glass said.
After a lot of back-and-forth play, Kenilworth went ahead 1-0 when a free kick from about 35 metres out found its way to the back of the Cowichan net. The English team poured it on just before the first half expired.
“Despite playing with most of the possession and territory the boys had a mental lapse and gave up three goals in the last minute of the first half,” Glass recalled.
Cowichan United regrouped in the second half and played the visiting team even.
The Cowichan team had previously finished third in their league and placed second in the B Cup tournament.
The Cowichan U14 Gold boys team won their league and have already qualified for the Island Invitational Championships in Duncan later this month, but they too had trouble with the visitors from England.
“They were a strong team,” coach Bill Keserich Jr. said. “They have some very good players who controlled the game for them. They were a good group of kids who played hard and worked hard. Unfortunately on the day, my boys weren’t up to the challenge.”
Keserich pointed out that his team hadn’t played a game in a month and a half before facing Kenilworth.
“You can train as much as ou want, but unless you’re playing games, you’re not in game shape,” he said.