The Garden Valley Collegiate boy's soccer team, the Zodiacs, ended their season not knowing what their full potential really was. They ended their rollercoaster season in third place in Zone 4 action.

This was a rebuilding season for the Zodiacs who had only seven veterans. The rest of the players were rookies. The team lost the big games during regular season action but won first place trophies in each of their tournaments and defeated last year's provincial champions twice in two different tournaments.

An exchange student from Germany, Many T., played on the team this year, adding a nice scoring touch to the young team. Coach Lorne Warkentine said he felt pressure to satisfy the exchange student, but felt that the team did a good job of making him feel welcome here in Canada.

Season highlights for the coach and the players were obviously the big wins in the tournaments, and also the very entertaining shootouts. The Zodiacs always came out on top. "The shootouts were awesome! We never lost one!", stated player Clint Peters.

Most of the Garden Valley Collegiate players were in Senior 1 and still inexperienced. "I think that our strengths were that we could run with any team, but our ball handling skills were not always quite up to par," said Mr. Warkentine. He also noted that he was surprised to see how well the team got along under the circumstances. His goals for the team players were not only to win Zones, but also to get along and to enjoy their season. Although winning Zones proved to be out of reach, Coach Warkentine felt the other goals had been achieved.

Only two players will be graduating and leaving the team this year. For this young and improving team, hopes are high for the next season.