On frozen pond: Red beats Pink in final

The Bowen Island co-ed soccer league completed Season 5 last Saturday as Red United whitewashed Pink FC 3-0 to take home the Wooden Trophy before 34 fans on a frozen AT field at BICS.

The Red horde rode the hot goaltending of Michael 'Mikey' Bingham and a defence led by Claudia Schaefer.

Nick Page, Joel Schudson and Robert Gray scored for Red, who led 1-0 after the half. The games are played without referees and players call their own fouls; despite the field conditions making stopping and starting difficult, the final saw fair play throughout.

It was a disappointing loss for the Pink club, down three key players David Verlee (business trip), Iona Buchan (knee injury suffered at her own birthday party) and Courtni McGillivray (pregnant by teammate, and husband, Paul 'Pablo Pablo' McGillivray).

"We wanted to win for those guys but it wasn't our day," Pink goalie Marcus Hondro told this reporter. "Bingham was great and Schaefer and Shauna Jennings and Burns played well. I mean we find them annoying but we gotta give them credit."

Fields conditions were the same for both teams but Hondro attempted to use the hard surface as an excuse. "I slipped on the first goal and then I fell on the second one and then basically I just lost my footing on the third," he claimed. "But other than that it was mostly okay."

The six vs. six league started back in the fall of 2009 with four teams. They have two seasons per year, in the spring and fall, and are up to 10 clubs. Chris Corrigan, who tweeted game updates during the final, has been there since the start and said this season saw 58 different players score a goal, a league record.

Corrigan points out the league is competitive and yet very friendly.

"What is great about the co-ed league is that it both intensely competitive and intensely community based," he said. "The teams switch every season meaning you are always playing with or against friends.

"It is as much about the social scene as it is about the football and that is by design.

A whole bunch of people play together, including folks from more than 15 different nationalities from every continent, making it a diverse and welcoming group."

The Bowen co-ed soccer league will launch its sixth season in the spring of 2012. The league has a website with information on registration at www.bowenfc.com.

New players are welcome.