Muskies ready for NorWOSSA

Both Muskie soccer teams are geared up for the NorWOSSA tournament today and tomorrow in Kenora despite not having played a real game in weeks.
The boys attended an exhibition tournament in Winnipeg at the end of April, but the girls only have played against the boys’ rookies and their alumni since an exhibition tournament here April 23-24.
Both teams had been scheduled to attend a tournament in Dryden last weekend, but the heavy snowfall earlier in the week forced it to be cancelled.
“What can you do?” said boys’ coach Rick Chambers. “We can’t control the weather. It’s disappointing for the guys, [but] for the girls more because they haven’t played a game in weeks.”
Chambers said the coaches have been stressing to their teams that the Kenora Broncos and Dryden Eagles are in the same boat.
“We’re trying to keep them in some kind of game shape,” he noted. “We’ll see in Kenora if they’re ready.”
The girls’ team also will face another curve ball at NorWOSSA because coach Struchan Gilson has been called away on a family matter.
The girls’ team has been building up their strength and endurance this past week under assistant coach Char Bliss, who devised a running routine that included long laps and staggered runs up the steep hill by the water tower.
At the beginning of the season, they could do five. Last week, they completed 16 in one-minute intervals.
The boys, meanwhile, have been practising deflections in front of the net as well as concentrating on ball movement.