After dominating the ranks at the Challenge Cup the YUFC U-10’s went to Summerfest in Regina to step up to the Premier level and give the young players a new challenge and experience in their season. The U-10’s lost all of their three games in Regina over the weekend, but did gain valuable experience and learned what the gap is from the PSL ranks and have something to build on moving forward.

With undefeated records from both U-10 sides at the Challenge Cup in June the YUFC U-10 program already proved their dominance and the challenge of a premier division tournament was a step in the right direction for the team. With the new challenge the boys found tougher competition that even though it earned them three losses, will improve the skill and experience of the players immensely in the future. If the U-10’s stuck with higher level competition in their first weekend of play against the premier ranks than the move has already been proven as a successful one.

Coach Mike Jakubiec noted that “We played strong all weekend, and the boys played really hard.” Jakubiec also pointed out that the jump from regular play to the Premier level was quite the task for the young YUFC boys saying “It was a bit jump for them mentally, but once they adjusted they stuck with every team.”

Jakubiec’s sentiments can be backed up by the fact that the U-10’s lost their first game three-nil and their second game two-nil before losing to the best club in Regina two-nil in a game where YUFC had various chances to finish that could have changed the outcome of the game, ending the weekend on a very positive note.

Much credit should be given to the young footballers for showing adjustment to a steep learning curve and showing clear improvement over the weekend in a tournament that could have went much worse for the young YUFC players.