Soccer gods good to annual Lac St. Louis international tourney

First off that prayers to the so-called soccer gods be answered by nice sunny, warm weather on both days of the event. Secondly that good clean soccer would be enjoyed by the about 4,000 under-9 to u-18 boys’ and girls’ players along with 500 coaches that participated during the two-day event that featured 198 A and AA Quebec clubs. Action kicked off early Saturday morning and wrapped up with finals on Sunday afternoon.

When all was said and done, it was check and double check on both counts, a tribute to not only to fate and good fortune, but to the hard work of the organizing committee made up of volunteers, many of whom were experiencing their first-ever international. However, to people like Lac St. Louis Soccer Association executive director Yvan Dallaire and competition director Maya Spano, there was one more vitally important aspiration to adhere to, and that took place last Friday night at the Catalogna Soccerplexe in Lachine, during the tournament’s official opening ceremonies. That was when Dallaire and Co., tried to sell the certainly not new idea to the several politicians that dropped by to be part of the festivities - including Lac St. Louis riding Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia, who served as the tourney’s honourary president - that the association was in dire need of new fields to play on.

Whether Dallaire was successful in his sales pitch remains to be seen, but if he wasn’t he warned, dark clouds loom over the horizon for local soccer, particularly at the inter-city level.

“We’re having major field problems right now,” said Dallaire. “We’re fielding more and more competitive teams every year, and right now the fields are simply not sufficient to supply the demand. With the new club structure, there are more competitive clubs. In order for these clubs to develop talent, of course have to play games, but more importantly, you have to provide fields for them to practise on.”

Dallaire would love to bring the different levels of local government together to help finance a six to eight-field park in the West Island managed by the region. A complex like that, he said, could host a slew of inter-city games, opening up much more free field time for individual clubs to practice.

Despite the threatening storm clouds though, Dallaire said last weekend’s tourney was a time to celebrate area soccer. To that end, if you would like to see the list of winners, go to www.arslacstlouis.com