Ridley hosting CAIS senior boys soccer championship
Ridley College’s five soccer fields are a beehive of activity this week.
For the first time in a decade Ridley is hosting the CAIS (Canadian Accredited Independent Schools) Senior Boys Soccer Tournament with 20 schools from across Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick and Bermuda on campus participating in 54 games over three days.
The event has not been held anywhere since 2019 due to the pandemic.
“We thought it was important to bring it back,” Ridley Director of Athletics Courtney Smith said. “There’s not very many places where you are hosting a national tournament for the country on the independent school level.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to bring our community of independent schools together for, obviously sport, but also an opportunity to get to know other coaches and students and build relationships. As with any CAIS tournament, our priority is to plan a tournament that promotes meaningful competition, sportsmanship and camaraderie among like-minded institutions.”
Smith said not being able to hold the tournament was difficult.
“The one thing that was the hardest of the pandemic was we lost that sense of community outside of our own home and schools and tournaments like this bring everybody back together,” she said.
The following are the participating schools: Albert College (Belleville); Ridley College (St. Catharines); Appleby College (Oakville); Rothesay Netherwood School (Rothesay, NB); Ashbury College (Ottawa); Royal St. George’s College (Toronto); Bishop’s College School (Sherbrooke, QC); Saltus Grammar School (Bermuda); Country Day School (King City); Selwyn House School (Westmount, QC); Crescent School (Toronto); St. Andrew’s College (Aurora); Hillfield Strathallan College (Hamilton); St. George’s School (Vancouver); Holy Trinity School (Richmond Hill); Stanstead College (Standstead, QC); Lakefield College School (ON); Trinity College School (Port Hope); Lower Canada College (Montreal, QC); Upper Canada College (Toronto).
The tournament began Thursday morning with opening ceremonies which saw Ridley Lower School students (JK-Grade 6) accompany each team to the pitch.
Tournament schedule
Thursday, October 12
9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Round Robin
Friday, October 13
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Round Robin
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. | Re-Alignment
Saturday, October 14
9 a.m. – 3 p.m. | Championship
3 p.m. | Awards Presentation (A-Squad)
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