Jasper soccer teams won’t get a home game this year.

Mike Johnson, Jasper co-ordinator for the Northwest Central Soccer Association, said the decision was reached after discussions with the greenskeeper.

“We made an executive decision after discussing the situation with the greenskeeper,” Johnson said. “We’re all disappointed, but its better to call it off instead of continually adjusting the schedule.”

The Jasper pitch was resurfaced this spring and was due to host its first game June 1. That game was cancelled and so were matches set for last weekend. 

Johnson said a handful of Jasper teams have a shot at qualifying for provincial competition that begins after the June 21 soccer fest.

“I think the under 18 boys and girls, the under 16 girls and the under 14 boys could make the provincial round,” he said.

Tournament play

Jasper’s minor league soccer teams caught the eye of director Wayne Lockhart as they scored big in the Sherwood Park tournament May 24-25.

“I’ve noticed an improvement over the past couple years,” he said. “Obviously the coaches from that area are doing a good job.”

Jasper’s U-18 boys team, a fusion of players from the U-16 and one from the U-14 division, placed bronze in the annual Sherwood Park tournament over the weekend.

On Saturday the boys beat Stony Plain 3-0 in game one and lost to Tofield TFC 4-2 in game two.

On Sunday the Athabasca Renegrades narrowly defeated Jasper in the semi-finals by scoring the only goal with eight seconds left in the game. In game four the boys won 2-0 against Tofield to take bronze.

Team manager Ken Quackenbush said the boys impressed him, especially because they have a short season so they do a lot of training over a short period of time.

“They all did really well, we have a fantastic group of boys,” he said. “They’re all pretty enthusiastic about soccer.”

High scorer for the tournament was Nathan D’Heer and Russell Turner was “fantastic in net” Quackenbush said.

Jasper’s U-12 girls placed bronze and the U-16 girls placed silver in Draw 1 and bronze in Draw 2.