Minor soccer teams from across the territory took to the indoor soccer pitches across the city for the 2018 Yukon Futsal Championships this past weekend as a celebration of the season before it moves back outdoors.

The Whitehorse Minor Soccer futsal teams in seven divisions were joined by community teams who had the chance to compete in a larger tournament – something not common with the young community teams.

Yukon Soccer Association president Danny Macdonald said a major priority for the organization is to expand the sport in the territory and increase participation in the more rural communities.

“This is a key event for us to make that happen,” Macdonald said. “Include the rural communities as well as Whitehorse in some major competition.”

Teams from outside Whitehorse rose to the occasion winning several medals at the tournament.

The Dawson City Lions Club took home five total medals and a team from Haines Junction left with gold.

In the seven-team U10 boy’s division, two Dawson City Lions teams found themselves in the semifinals. The Lions #2 team won their semifinal 6-0 over Jack’s Bistro, with the Lions #1 team dropped a close one to All Paws Veterinary Clinic 2-1.

But the Lions were able to claw their way to the podium winning the bronze medal game over Jack’s Bistro 6-0. The other Lions team ensured gold would be making the trip up to Dawson with a 3-0 win in the final.

On the girl’s side, the Haines Junction Eagles went undefeated in the round-robin to secure top spot in the playoffs.

The Eagles took on the Lions from Dawson in a semifinal with the Eagles winning 4-1 to advance. In the gold-medal game, Haines Junction continued their winning ways with a 5-3 win over Due North. Dawson took the bronze in a climactic shootout win over Driving Force.

Sponsored by Northwestel, the three-day championships took place in both the fieldhouse and flexihall of the Canada Games Centre as well as Vanier Catholic Secondary School.

The divisions jumped from U12 to U16 as numbers this year didn’t allow for teams in the U14 division, Macdonald said.

With games happening consistently in different locations, Macdonald said there is a lot of organization and logistics that goes into the event including the hiring of a tournament marshal specifically to oversee the running and scheduling of the event.

He said the main feedback they have received from parents and coaches is to continue working on finding a way to include everyone and also maintain a competitive balance.

“We want everyone having fun and having a competitve balance is a big key of that,” he said. “That’s one thing we’ve kind of heard and we’re going to examine ways to make sure we have that in place.”

Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to the top three teams in each division and the winners in each age division were awarded the championship trophies that they share with the other winning team in that age group.

Macdonald said there were several instances throughout championship Sunday if the young players going up to the tournament organizers incredibly excited and sharing that this is the first medal they’ve ever won.

“That’s the kind of stuff we like seeing. A sense of accomplishment and achievement,” he said.

The U12 boy’s division was won by Marble Slab out of Whitehorse Minor.

They beat fellow Whitehorse team Sports Experts in the final match 6-3. Yukon Yamaha took the bronze in the division with a 9-4 win over Yukon Pump Sharpshooters.

In the four-team U12 girl’s division, Castle Rock Enterprises took the gold beating Tangerine Technology in the final.

The Dawson City Lions took home another medal beating Sale’ Salvage in the bronze-medal game.