It was a magical season for the Morden Thunder girls soccer team, and Claes Aschberg couldn’t be prouder of the group for all they were able to accomplish this season. 

The start of the season

Right from the beginning, Aschberg got the feeling that this year would be special, mainly because of the level of interest. “Well, this year we had, for the first time in a long time, enough girls to be rostered up to 23. Then we started like an exhibition game, but we unfortunately lost to Altona. Altona has been a really tough competition for us in the past years. Then, after that, we lost to GVC, 1-0 in the league games, but other than that, we won every game. We won the GVC tournament, too.”

Finding that next level

With the ages of players ranging, Aschberg says coaching this group, getting them to the next level has been a lot of fun, because they are all so dedicated. “Well, some of the girls in our winter soccer program, like what we do only for girls, like in the winter time, like a minor soccer association. So some of the girls I have had three or four years playing with me in the wintertime. I have girls from GVC and NPC and from Altona in our winter program. So I have known these girls fairly well and have been available to position them in the right places. The group of girls that are right now in grade 11, I have a really strong group of girls, like 10 girls that have been with me for four years now. They are really dedicated girls. It has been really actually been my pleasure to work with these girls.”

Friendships through sport

At the core of it all, Aschberg says it’s the friendships and bonds formed that mean the most. “I have been coaching soccer a long time, so you make, of course, you make friends and you try to help them out in their life, otherwise too, and try to give them advice. I have been lucky, like I have always had like really good captains. Some other friends come and help me to, like, coach the team. You know, it’s not only me, it’s like it’s a group of people. We get together and promote the girls and help out. So, I have been really fortunate. Our team captains, Kapri Curry and Rylee Thiessen, are special. They help make the program what it is. I’ve been lucky to be around them as players and people.”

March to and through Provincials

Aschberg details how the group got to Provincials and how they did at the big tournament. “First, we won the Zones,” he says proudly. “We beat Altona in the Zones finals 2-1, and then after that, we qualified straight to the Provincials. At Provincials, we met Stonewall, the host team, but we didn’t know too much about them because we hadn’t played against them this year. But after like a kind of first 10 minutes, like we were actually, I was really surprised how good the Stonewall team was. But we ended up winning that game 4-1. We came really strong in the second half. After that, we played MacGregor, and MacGregor is like, I think that was the first time when they were in Provincials, but they knocked out teams like Neepawa and Minnedosa to get in the Provincials. Their goalie was unbelievable, like really, really good goalie, so gave us a tough time. But again, we really started to play really good in the second half and ended up beating them. I think it was 5-0. That gave us the finals, of course, we met Altona, and that was like unbelievable game. We ended up winning that. We got the penalty kick in the second half, and then our captain put the ball in, and then we ended up winning that game 1-0. But like all the credit to Altona, they played us like the whole year. They played really tough, and like I really enjoyed playing against Altona because I have a lot of good friends there, including their coach. It was kind of revenge from the year before. We end up losing in the semi-final to Altona in a penalty kick. So it was kind of nice to beat them this year, so all worked out really well.”

All-stars and representing Morden

There were numerous All-Stars selected from the Thunder, and Aschberg says the entire team takes a lot of pride in representing Morden. “Our team always loves playing for the community. The support they get is terrific. One of our players was selected as the most valuable player at the Provincials, and her name is Kapri Curry. We had a few girls who made it to the All-Star team, Kaedence Wiens, Logan Speers, Svana Gills, and Bella Ritchie. So like it has been just an unbelievable pleasure, and I really, really have been blessed to be available to coach this team for the past ten years.”