Six members of OSC’s Boys U16 OPDL squad will be heading to Madrid, Spain to compete in the Gatorade 5v5 Global Finals after capturing the championship at this weekend’s Gatorade 5v5 Tournament presented in partnership with Ontario Soccer.
The Gatorade 5v5 Tournament, which took place at the Pickering Soccer Centre on March 30 and 31, saw four OSC teams compete, each comprised of six players from the Club’s Girls and Boys U16 OPDL teams. All four teams played impressively throughout the group stage on Saturday and advanced to the knockout stage on Sunday.
After a 3-2 win over North Toronto Soccer Club in the quarter finals and a 6-1 victory against Wexford, Oakville 1 headed to the finals against Woodbridge. After an exciting game with only one goal scored, OSC emerged as the champions, securing their spot in the Gatorade Global Tournament in Spain.
“This was another tremendous event put together by Gatorade and Ontario Soccer," said Chris Grierson, OSC Senior Technical Director. "Last year the group made it to the semi-final, so to see OSC go one stage later and win the whole event is a wonderful achievement. The players and coaching staff are ecstatic and looking forward to representing Ontario and Canada in Madrid.”
Gatorade 5v5 was created by the sport beverage company to promote the talent of young players who want to take their game to the next level. The Canadian tournament is presented by Gatorade Canada in partnership with Ontario Soccer, and provides the winners of the tournament the opportunity to travel to Madrid, Spain in May to represent Canada and compete against their peers from over 20 countries in the Gatorade 5v5 Global Tournament.
“The Oakville Soccer Club is extremely proud of these young men and their tremendous accomplishment,” said Dave Harris, OSC Executive Director. “We know that they will represent the organization well in competing in the Gatorade Global Tournament. We wish them all the best as they travel to Madrid, Spain to compete.”
The Oakville 1 team is comprised of players Tyler Curtis, Zachary Ladha, Dylan Lopes, Yves-Michael Tcheuyap, Aleks Petrovic and Lucas Russo, and is coached by Bruno Silva and Worrell Wright.
The Oakville Soccer Club wishes these athletes the best of luck during this exciting once in a lifetime opportunity!