Sports
Graduates celebrate League Cup
By Don Fennell
Published 2:04 PST, Mon March 5, 2018
When the Graduates reflect on their victory
in the 2018 Don Taylor League Cup, many years from now, they’ll no doubt view
it as a cherished memory.
Just as it is for the individual for whom the
Richmond Adult Soccer Association’s most prestigious trophy is named.
Taylor and the boys still get together three
or four times a year to reminisce about the day of old, and the domination they
enjoyed wearing the jersey of the Richmond Sounders a decade and more ago. That
includes a set date each spring to watch the Masters golf tournament.
Today, they rejoice as much in the journey
itself as the countless achievements along the way.
For the Graduates though, there are more
pressing priorities.
The 3-1 result over West Coast FC, during the
annual Soccer Sunday celebration at Minoru Park, vaulted the Richmond Adult
Soccer Association side into the Provincial Cup tournament in mid-April.
“We’ve seen a lot of maturing in the Grads
since they first came in the league,” said league president Steve Valenzuela. “The
first couple of years you could see the youth in them, but I think they’ve
matured well and, at the same time, brought in quality players graduating out
of (Richmond FC) youth to support the team.”
Valenzuela is excited at the Grads’ prospects
at the Provincial Cup. It will be the team’s second appearance in the
tournament.
Poised to finish third in the First Division
regular-season table, this has arguably been the Grads’ best-ever since. Since
debuting in 2010, the club has steadily climbed to this level.
A 6-0 semifinal win over perennial powerhouse
Richmond All Blacks assured the Grads of their place in the League Cup final on
Soccer Sunday, an annual event that showcases the Richmond Adult Soccer
Association.
Winning the Don Taylor League Cup is
considered a monumental achievement in the Richmond Adult Soccer Association.
The season-long tournament debuted in 1968. Each winter campaign, member clubs
engage in a bracket-style single knockout with teams randomly drawn to
determine who plays who.
Taylor himself won the League Cup 10 times.
He was also the league’s longest-serving president, occupying the board
position from 1979 through 2004.
Valenzuela said despite some concerns with
the weather late in the season, the 2017-18 campaign has been one of the best
in the league’s long history.
“We had a very competitive season,” he
explained. “Going forward, I encourage the teams to continue to strengthen
themselves.”
While snow cancelled this year’s planned
all-star game with Burnaby, Valenzuela said he anticipates that exchange will
resume again next season.
“We’d not only like to hold it again, but
expand it around Thanksgiving weekend,” he said. “Our intention would be to
also have games for the Second Division and Masters Division.”