'We don't give up on each other': Winnipeg Youth soccer club heading to Canadian nationals

Barra said this will be the last season playing together for many of the players, as they will likely move on to post-secondary education teams. (Source: Zach Kitchen, CTV News)

A Winnipeg youth soccer club is getting ready to go to the Canadian national championships this week.

It's been a long road for many players on the Bonivital Soccer Club (BSC) U-17 soccer team. Centre Joshua Shefchyk tells CTV News he's been playing with this same core group for the better part of a decade.

"I've known most of these guys since I've been nine years old," said Shefchyk. "We have a level of camaraderie, we always seem to be together. We don't give up on each other, ever."

Xxavier Barra is the technical lead of premier at the club. He said it's been amazing watching these players grow up together on the team. "You've gotten to see them grow and develop, obviously through a whole pandemic as well," he said. "It's been great to see how collectively they have come together as a group to support one another."

Barra said this will be the last season playing together for many of the players, as they will likely move on to post-secondary education teams.

BSC has had a very good season so far, winning the Manitoba Soccer Association's provincial championship in July. Shefchyk said it was an incredible final game.

"The way that the game ended, we were down a man, got a red card, and we rallied back…scored three goals a man down. We never gave up," he said.

This will be Shefcyk's final season with BSC, and he's looking to go out on top by winning the national championships in New Brunswick this month.

The Canada Soccer nationals take place Oct. 4-9 in Moncton. It will be the team's second year in a row representing Manitoba at the tournament. Shefchyk says his team knows their game plan.

"Everybody's big, everybody's fast, everybody's tough over there," he said. "So we just have to play quick so nobody has a chance to get on us."

Also representing Manitoba at the tournament are the U-17 girls AK Academy.

The U-15 boys World Soccer Academy and U-15 girls Winnipeg Phoenix FC are competing in Waterloo, and the over-18 FC Winnipeg Lions and FC Northwest Starz are also playing at their national tournament in Halifax on the same dates. 

Barra said he's very proud that his players have made it this far, but they have to keep things in perspective.

"It humbles us, because we understand that this experience is very difficult," Barra said. "The tournament is very difficult, we play very good teams that have also been training at the level we have the entire year."

Shefchyk added that hard work really does pay of when it comes to soccer, and he feels ready for nationals.

"I mean its kind of cliché, but you have to work hard and put in the hours like outside of your normal training," he said.

Barra says the team is a resilient bunch that can overcome any obstacle.

"Staying together for this long isn’t easy, it comes with its ups and downs, but I think they rallied behind one another this year to strive towards a common goal."