Published April 22 , 2009
By Nick Lo ngo
It was a festive occasion the weekend of April 18 and 19, 2009 at Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne. On Greek Easter Sunday, the soccer gods blessed the 2 U9 (Division 2) teams from the Chomedey Soccer Club in the Easter Sunday Showdown. It was a finale a-la-Chomedey.
The Chomedey Dynamo, a U9 (Division 2) boys soccer team captured the BMO Ligue Laval Winter indoor title by beating their brother team Chomedey Scorpions 6-4 in the BMO Ligue Laval Play-off finals.
Both Chomedey teams squared off in an exciting game. One thing was for sure, the Ligue Laval Cup would stay in Chomedey. But on this day, it was the Dynamo that would prevail while the Scorpions kept fighting back and did not relent.
Both teams made it to the final by beating their opponents on the previous day in the semi-finals. The Dynamo disposed of Les Etoiles de l’Est 4-1 while the Scorpions Shut-out Monteuil 2-0.
For coaches Peter Adam, Nick Longo and all 12 kids of the Dynamo, it was two accolades in two weeks. The play-off championship is the icing on the cake for this division 2 team. The weekend prior to the play-offs, the Dynamo locked up 1st place by defeating the St. Leonard Lions 13-3 and were crowned the Regular Season Champions. Their record was a stunning 13 wins, 1 tie, 2 losses this winter and finished 8 points ahead of their 2nd place counterparts in the standings.
Development was key
The main priority for this team, at this level was Development. From the most advanced player to the newest player, the Dynamo coaches spent all winter trying to get the message across to all the players. The message was clear; start with the basics, learn them, work on soccer technique, understand the game and continue to improve. The coaches also tried to incorporate whatever they could in their practise sessions based on what they learned during actual games. The limited indoor time for practice did not make it easy. The team, however, maximized whatever time and space was allotted to them. The coach’s philosophy was “Practise makes perfect” and “give the kids special instructions easy enough to understand”.
Even with winning both Championships, the coaches agree the team is far from being perfect. The constant changing of players every season has not helped. There is still more learning to do, loopholes to fill and both coaches are eager to start practicing outdoors. Who knows, maybe a couple of tournaments this summer in the AA (Division 1) category may take them their greater heights.
This moment of glory, nonetheless, belongs to the players. Congratulations to the real stars of the Chomedey Dynamo… Leonard Nguyen, Peter Alper, Joseph Hanna, Nicholas Alevras, John Adam, Camilo Juan Marin Gil, Neem Tallah Attie, Jamal Pierre-Louis, Sonny Anthony Longo, Xavier Samson, Jason Alper, and Nicholas Bountroukas.
Despite losing almost half their players from the summer 2008 season, the Dynamo continued to fare well. In addition to both winter titles, the Chomedey Dynamo also won the gold medal in the 2009 ARS Laval Tournament on February 15 this year. They also made it to the Semi-finals in the Coupe Laval Tournament in March 2009.
Last summer, this U9 team finished 1st in their league to claim the summer regular season championship with a record of 16-1-1. They also picked up 2 silver medals and a bronze in tournaments played.