Oak Bay High School co-coach Brent Garraway gathered his players around him in a post-game huddle Wednesday at Braefoot Park, following the 2-0 Colonist Cup boys soccer semifinal victory over the Reynolds Roadrunners.
鈥淕uys, it鈥檚 under the lights, on grass with 400 to 500 fans cheering. It鈥檚 so much fun and it鈥檚 one of the moments you鈥檙e going to remember,鈥� he said.
He was referring to tonight鈥檚 Greater Victoria Colonist Cup championship final at 7 p.m. inside Centennial Stadium at the University of Victoria. The Colonist Cup final has boasted future sa国际传媒-capped players in its history and certainly ranks as one of the great local annual high school championship spectacles, up there with the Howard Russell Cup rugby final, Island high school track and field championships and the Island boys basketball championships.
Oak Bay鈥檚 opponents will be Glenlyon Norfolk School. The Gryphons were 3-0 victors over the two-time defending Colonist Cup-champion St. Michaels University School Blue Jags in the other semifinal game played simultaneously Wednesday up the road at the UVic turf fields. MacKenzie Cole had two goals for GNS, while Aidan McCallum had the other.
鈥淲e played well as a team this year. We have real chemistry,鈥� said winger Connor King, who scored the winner for the Bays in the second half before Nick Hurley provided the insurance goal.
King is part of the group of all-rounders that makes this Oak Bay squad tick and gives it a multifaceted athletic edge. It is the Swiss Army Knife of soccer teams. The side includes two players from the Bays basketball team, three from the powerhouse Barbers volleyball squad and seven from the Barbs rugby team.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the strength of our program,鈥� said Oak Bay co-coach Rich Fast. 鈥淚n an age of specialization, we encourage all our students to be multi-sport athletes.鈥�
King, and man of the match and sa国际传媒 and sa国际传媒 U-17 rugby player Brandon Schellenberger, are part of the seven players who are as home on the rugby pitch as they are on the soccer grounds.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all-rounders from different sports who have bonded very well in soccer because we do so much outside stuff together,鈥� said Grade 12 student-athlete Schellenberger, a right back in soccer who has his sights set on the UVic Vikes next year in rugby.
鈥淭his [Colonist Cup] is very exciting. It鈥檚 the equivalent of the Howard Russell Cup [rugby final]. There are going to be fans cheering and it鈥檚 in a stadium setting.鈥�
That鈥檚 not to mention the Bays upper-classmen literally have one last kick at the Colonist Cup after losing 2-0 to SMUS in the final last year. Oak Bay is after its first title since 2008.
鈥淭he boys have all bought in this year,鈥� said Fast.
Oak Bay gave a game Reynolds squad its props.
鈥淛.J. Atterbury is a good coach and the Roadrunners know how to battle,鈥� said Fast.
And GNS will not be an easy nut to crack in the Colonist Cup final, either. The Gryphons may hail from a small private school but they have a powerhouse program, having played in five of the past seven Colonist Cup finals, and having won the 2015 sa国际传媒 single-A championship earlier this month.
Oak Bay is going for the 2015 treble, hoping to add to the Lower Island regular-season and Island triple-A championships it has captured earlier.
