Girls from the Sooke Soccer Club represented Sooke at a regional tournament on Jan. 4 at the Westhills Turf Field at Bear Mountain Stadium.
Twelve players from the U12 Sooke Strikers, and other club teams, sang the national anthem before two games at the Lower Island Women’s Soccer Association Fifth Annual All-star Games.
They also volunteered as ball girls.
According to Laura Lockhart, U12 Sooke Strikers coach, a Sooke women’s team was expected to play, but did not get nominated on time.
As a result, Sooke’s young players represented the region and the future of women’s soccer.
Lockhart said their first rendition of the national anthem was met with nervousness, which later dissipated in the second round.
“They were kind of nervous to sing, but they belted it out the second time,” she said.
The tournament also gave the girls an opportunity to observe a higher level of play.
“It was a very good experience to see really good soccer playing,” Lockhart said.
“We might do it again because there’s other tournaments coming up and they really enjoyed just running around and retrieving the balls for the ladies,” she added.