The Klondike Blizzards girls soccer team took a huge step towards preparing for the 2009 nationals at a recently held outdoor competitions in Langley, B.C.

The squad showcased their skills in one of the toughest competitive draws they have faced to date in the sport at the annual Langley Labour Day Memorial Soccer Tournament.

At the Langley tournament, the Blizzards competed in the gold division for the first time, one level up from what they were playing in last year at this time.

The team finished with a record of 0-3-1.

Despite not getting recording wins, the Blizzards didn't come back empty handed as the team was given the Memorial Sportsmanlike Award.

"I think it is a progressive jump, which we feel that we have made this year," said co-coach Amy Macdonald.

"We played very competitively in the silver division last year and so I think this year for us going into gold, it wouldn't have been a good competition for the girls to go and play in silver again, they might have done very well in it, but that's not the progression that we want right now."

The Blizzards are comprised of 26 members in total, however only 18 attended the Langley competition.

The girls on the squad are either 12 or 13 years old. During the month of September they have been practicing three times a week. The team's indoor season begins in November.

Before each game in Langely, the team set progressive goals in attempt to come out strong and create scoring chances.

The Blizzards opened the tournament up against a very tough Langley team. The Yukon squad gave up two goals in each half and dropped the contest by a 4-0 score.

The Blizzards wouldn't be fazed by the loss and rebounded in game two to put forth their best efforts of the tournament.

After trailing 1-0 at the end of the first half, the Blizzards stormed back in the second to notch the tying goal. The Yukon team wasn't done yet, netting the go ahead goal in the dying minutes of the game, however it was called back on goalie interference.

The team's third game was another nail bitter, which was highlighted by the Blizzards fighting back after falling behind 2-0. The Yukon squad netted one goal, but that was as close as they would get in the 2-1 loss.

Fatigue played a factor in the final game, which was against a Vancouver-based team. The Blizzards ended up losing 7-0.

Charly Kelly, the team's other co-coach, said she was pleased with how the girls performed in Langely.

"They did amazingly well for the level that we had them at there," she said.

Macdonald said she was happy about how the team fared in its first gold level tournament.

"We are definitely happy with the play that they made because at least we know what we can work on for the next year before nationals and know what things are holding us back," she said. "We know that we are becoming competitive in the higher levels."

She said she was happy about the team winning the trophy.

"The girls, I think all of them came home enjoying it," Macdonald said. "They had a good time, they played very well. So for us as a team keeping that attitude and the team bonding together is half the battle when you are trying to get a team organized to go out somewhere."

Chrissy Anderson, 13, was the Blizzards' goaltender at the Langley Tournament.

She said she was happy with how the team played at the Labour Day tournament.

"I think that we did very good," Anderson said. "Sometimes we struggled a little bit, but most of the time we did pretty good and we worked as a team a lot and I think we did good with that."

Anderson, who has played soccer since she was five years old, said she is more confident heading into the indoor season after competing in Langley.