Two third places (bronze medals) for boys and two for girls, the teams of Cēsis Sports School “CPSS / Lekrings” have finished the season of the Latvian Youth Floorball Championship.
Boys’ games and medals
The regular tournament for the boys in the U15 group (coaches Gints Bērtulis, Andris Rajeckis) ended in sixth place, entering the playoffs. In the quarterfinals with 5: 3 and 2: 0, the team FBK “START” was defeated, which allowed them to enter the semifinals. Opposite “FS Masters / Ulbroka” and the finalist was the sum of two games. The first ended in a draw 4: 4, but the second with a 3: 2 advantage turned out to be Ulbroka’s floorball players. Although Cēsis were in the lead after the first two periods, the opponents not only equalized the result in the last seven minutes of the regular time, but also scored a winning goal 41 seconds before the end of the regular time, causing a painful loss to Cēsis. They had to fight for bronze medals with their peers in Lielvārde. A similar scenario was observed in this game as well, because at the beginning of the second third Cēsis was in the lead 5: 1, but then 5: 4. However, Cēsis knew how to protect the leadership by winning 6: 5 and winning bronze medals.
The most productive in the team is Emīls Zauriņš, who scored 18 goals and 11 assists. The second is Markuss Vitte (16 + 11), the third is Henrik Skele (11 + 11).
Bronze awards also for U14 group boys (coaches G. Bērtulis, A. Rajeckis). In the 1st division of the regular tournament, they finished in fourth place and met with the leader of the Ķekavas Bulldogs in the semi-finals of the playoffs.
Losses were made in both games (3: 4 and 5: 8), which means that they have to fight for bronze medals. FK “Kurši” competed, and the young floorball players of Cēsis celebrated with a 2: 1 victory in a fierce, ineffective game.
The most productive in the team is Kristaps Jakāns, who has 14 goals and six assists. 20 performance points also for Emils Zauriņš (10 + 10), third – Henriks Šķēle (11 + 7).
In the U13 group, the people of Cēsis play in the 2nd division and finished the regular tournament in the 6th place. It allowed him to enter the playoffs, but the first round could not be won. Both games suffered losses against their peers in Aizkraukle (3: 7 and 4: 6).
The most productive in the team is Armands Runcis (23 + 15).
In the U12 group, “CPSS / Lekrings” finished the regular tournament in 6th place, entering the playoffs. In the 1/4 final, Cēsis beat FBK “Rīga Rockets” with 10: 4, entering the final, where they lost to “Ķekavas Bulldogs” with 4:12. The bronze medal match against Talsi NSS / Krauzers was very fierce, but they lost 6: 7 and the season ended in 4th place.
Three players in the team accumulated 19 performance points: Kārlis Kalniņš (13 + 6), Gustavs Radziņš (12 + 7) and Lauris Šterns (11 + 8).
Only one lap was played for the boys in the U18 group, the Cēsis failed to win and it did not allow them to enter the playoffs. The team’s top scorer is Bruno Beķeris, who has four goals and one assists.
Girls’ performance
For girls in the U14 group for the Cēsis team (coach Maija Zēmele – Bauere) in the regular tournament 3rd place. The team “Rīgas Lauvas” lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs with 4: 7, which meant that they were waiting for the bronze medal games against the “Ķekavas Bulldogs”. It turned out to be very exciting, rolling point by point, and the regular time ended without a winner with 7: 7. At the end of the second minute of extra time, Olīvija Jarohoviča brought victory and bronze medals to the Cēsis team. She is the team’s top scorer, with 25 goals scored in the season and five assists. The second Darta Malkava (14 + 11), the third – Evelīna Barka (13 + 9).
Cesis women also took the third place in the girls’ U12 group (coaches M. Zēmele – Bauere, A. Rajeckis), although the regular tournament ended in second place. In the semi-finals of the playoffs, the Rubene / KSS superiority of 3: 5 had to be acknowledged, which led to the bronze medals. In this game, Cēsis destroyed the “Talsi NSS” team 7: 1, winning bronze prizes. The most productive in the team is Evelīna Barka (32 + 12), the second Olīvija Jarohoviča (34 + 8), the third – Laura Runce (20 + 12).
The outlook for the future is positive
Team spokesman Paul Erenbot, an experienced player in the Premier League team “Lekrings”, praised the performance of the youth teams, adding that some groups could have been better and had the opportunity to enter the final.
Commenting on the unsuccessful start of the U18 team, he points out that the fault may have to be found in the motivation of the players: Sometimes the games overlap, then the youth championship remains in the background. From experience, I conclude that today’s young people do not think the way our generation did. It was important for me to win, I played in the World Cup or in some Stalbe matches, now the young people are making a choice, and it has to be accepted. ”
However, in general, according to P. Erenbot, the big team is growing quite well. There is no shortage of youth floorball, and it is possible that winning the title of champion in the Super League will only increase the desire to play this team’s sport.
“It must be taken into account that the impact was caused by the pandemic, many people left sports. It’s not just in floorball, it’s also in other sports, ”says P. Erenbots. “If there are no competitions, young people lose motivation to train. For us adults, it was already a difficult period for young people. There is a need for games where you can gain experience, cultivate skills, and training is not enough. ”
In his opinion, the boys’ teams that won bronze could also enter the finals, but most likely lacked strength and physical endurance, because the youth championship had to play a lot of games in a short time after the forced break and not everyone was ready for it.
“I have to admit that the biggest disappointment was in the U13 group, for which we tacitly had the highest hopes, but they were left without medals at all. But it’s a sport that was probably needed to make the boys think and get to the top next season, ”says Erenbot.
The summer break for coaches and players is now beginning to resume training in August and participate in an international tournament in the Czech Republic. Three teams will go there: U12, U14 and U16 guys. There will be an opportunity to compare the forces against the teams of the Czech Premier League, which shows a very high quality performance. Such a pull-out is necessary, because in Latvia the game is always against the same teams, all known, so it is important to play with teams that are not known to play different floorball.
Asked about the overall level of youth floorball in the country, P. Erenbots emphasizes that young people show a good level of play, it is higher than when he played in the youth championship, but of course in Latvia there are the same problems in our teams – young people too early to start playing in adult championships. “Unfortunately, this also leads to the fact that already at the age of 18 or 19, young people have played floorball in such a way that they are ending their career in this sport, even though it should have just begun. I want the participation in the youth championship to be considered prestigious for young people, we have to work on it. ” However, P. Erenbots also thinks that the situation will improve over time, so we can look at the future positively.
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