First Nations soccer team shines at international tournament

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It was a magical nine days in July for Arnold Isbister and his under-18 soccer team. The event was the Gothia World Youth Cup of Soccer hosted by Denmark and Sweden.

Isbister, the coach, had quickly thrown together a team and didn't know what to expect from the tournament. His team, called Piseyiwak (Cree for Thunderbirds), one of three teams competing from Canada, had found themselves involved in the largest youth soccer tournament in the world.

"I had to pick the team quickly because of a late invitation and financing problems," said Isbister, speaking from his kitchen in Saskatoon.

The team, primarily made up of select Aboriginal players, didn't have any time to play together before the tournament. The boys were from various reserves in Saskatchewan and from Saskatoon. They were one of more than 1,000 teams from around the world at the tournament.

It didn't begin well for Piseyiwak. They were playing in sold out, 6,000-seat stadiums, and were playing on artificial turf for the first time.

Their strategy was simple.

"One touch passing," said Isbister. "Just pass the ball as soon as they got it."

But the fake turf hampered the Piseyiwak players. They found themselves slipping whenever they tried to play the ball.

It would take the team three games to get used to the artificial turf, by which time they had been beaten 4-0 by Denmark, 8-1 by Slovakia and 4-3 by Honduras.

The team cam together in their forth game when they tied the top Swedish youth team in a no-goal game. But that was nothing compared to their next game against the Germans, which Piseyiwak won 2-0.

"The boys were so excited, they couldn't sleep that night," said Isbister.

Piseyiwak went on to beat the United States 2-0 and Norway 4-0. But reality sank in after they got thrashed 7-1 in a game against a second Norwegian team.

"The boys got a little over-confident," admitted Isbister.

The team earned a berth in the quarter finals, which they lost to Norway's top team 2-0. Despite that loss, Piseyiwak was the highest ranking Canadian team at the tournament.

Isbister is justifiably proud of his boys and already looking forward to next summer's tournament. He's also looking for sponsorship, so if you want to help out Arnold Isbister and Piseyiwak, give him a call at (306)665-0396.