The 2020 Indoor Soccer Championships Tournament was held in Whitehorse from Feb. 28 to March 1 as youth players from across the territory took part in the tournament, marking the end of the indoor soccer season.
Hosted by the Yukon Soccer Association, the championships included 455 players in eight divisions ranging from U6 and U8 coed up to U14/16 divisions for both boys and girls.
There were a number of major changes to the structure of this year’s tournament.
Due to the upcoming Arctic Winter Games and the increased demand for venue space, this year’s championships were jointly held at Porter Creek Secondary School, Vanier Catholic Secondary School and the Canada Games Centre. Additionally the YSA reverted the rules code back to indoor soccer from futsal, keeping in step with Whitehorse United FC’s decision to do so earlier in the year.
While U10 through U14/16 age groups had a traditional tournament format with playoffs, the U8 coed division utilized a jamboree style without playoffs and the U6 coed division was an on-field clinic.
In the U10 girls division, the final was a showdown between two Whitehorse teams as the blue team defeated the pink team in the final match.
The U10 boys division was another all-Whitehorse affair, with the purple team defeating the white team in the final.
At the U12 level, it was teams from the communities winning in both divisions.
In boys play, Dawson 1 defeated Dawson 2 to win the final, and in girls play it was Haines Junction defeating the white team to win the final.
Moving up to the boys U14/16 division, it was the green team defeating Haines Junction in the final.
Lastly in the girls U14/16 division, Dawson defeated Haines Junction in the final.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com