When it comes to high school sports in Thompson, the objective can often be boiled down to a three-word phrase.
Beat Flin Flon.
For one of R.D. Parker Collegiate's October athletes of the month, that goal has already been met and exceeded. For the other, the opportunity is just over a week away.
"Last year at our zone tournament we didn't turn out too well," said Grade 12 student Jared Green, a defender on the Trojans' boys' soccer team. "We wanted to beat Flin Flon."
They did, but not without some ups and downs along the way.
"They were up on us," he said, referring to the first half of the final game of the Zone 11 championships, with the winner moving on to provincials. RDPC surged back to take a two-goal lead, but a late goal by Flin Flon's Hapnot Collegiate Institute made for an exciting finish. "It came to the point where it was 4-3 for us. The last two minutes were the craziest I ever played."
That experience set the squad up well for the rural soccer provincials, where the team won the consolation final to finish fifth overall.
"It was very intense," said Green, who's happy he finished off his second - and final - season of high school soccer with a win. "It was excellent. Everything turned out the way it was supposed to. We did excellent."
The season was also an individual success for Green, who's never been named the athlete of the month before.
"I played great," he said. "There were some ups and downs that I did have against certain teams."
But through it all, he showed the traits that made the coaches pick him as the month's top athlete - "my commitment, hard work and dedication to soccer."
Female athlete of the month Leah Sinclair, who's also in Grade 12, describes the volleyball
team's season to this point with one word - "amazing."
"We improved since last year, a lot," she said, and as a result they've done well - "a lot better than I thought we would."
That goes for her own play, as well.
"I've improved all-around," she said. "I've played better than I thought I could, actually."
Now in her fourth year of playing high school volleyball, Sinclair and the rest of her team are preparing for the zone championships in Flin Flon Nov. 12-13, hoping to make Sinclair's prediction come true. "We are going to beat Flin Flon this year" she vows.
Sinclair says she was likely chose as athlete of the month for the first time because she's a hard worker. She also plays basketball but says that volleyball is most definitely her favourite sport, even if she can't quite pin down why.
"I just prefer it," she said. "I like it better."
