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Red Hot Selects look to go out with another cup

One of Richmond Girls Soccer's most successful teams hope final chapter will include Coastal and B.C. titles

One of the top teams ever to come out of the Richmond Girls Soccer Association is looking to end a marvellous run in style.

The Richmond Red Selects had a dream season in 2011, winning the Coastal and Provincial Cups. They also represented B.C. at the U16 Nationals in Calgary and five of their players were selected to provincial teams.

Now the Selects are back for more in their final campaign at the youth level.

Last year's accomplishments were done with just a 12 player roster and with new opportunities elsewhere, namely the Whitecaps Residency program and the fledgling B.C. Premier Soccer League, it wasn't certain if the Selects would even be able to continue at the two-year U18 level. However, they lost just two players and head coach Clive Clarke managed to expand his roster to 16 with the addition of some second-year 1994s.

The end result was Richmond going 15-1 in league play and being an overwhelming favourite to win the Coastal "A" Cup again. The playoff road begins Sunday (3 p.m.) with a quarter-final match against North Shore at Hugh Boyd.

Two wins will not only put the locals in next month's cup final, which once again will be hosted by Richmond, but also secure a spot in the four-team Provincial Cup Championships come July in Kamloops.

Despite having over half his roster eligible return for the 2012-13 campaign, this will be the Selects final season together.

"One of the 95s is graduating early and the numbers just won't be there to do it again," said Clarke. "There were definitely other options but in the end these girls wanted to play one more year with each other.

The goal has been to work them hard and keep them challenged. Even with the changes, there are still some good teams in Metro and the girls have done well.

"I have been working with most of them since the U6 or U7 level. They have been such a great group to coach and they are always getting complimented on their style of play."

Clarke estimates as many as nine of his 1995 players have the ability to continue their career for a post-secondary program, whether that be locally or south of the border.

Heading the list is his own daughter Summer Clarke, who is a member of the U17 national team.

The talented Grade 11 striker is already agreed to a full-ride scholarship offer from Louisiana State University (LSU) for the fall of 2013.

She chose the Baton Rouge school over offers from Oregon State and the University of Portland. Victoria native and Team B.C. teammate Emma Fletcher has also committed to LSU.

"We spoke to their assistant coach quite a bit and researched the school, program and academics," said Clive Clarke. "We were impressed with the whole package when everything was factored in and the idea of playing somewhere that was warm was appealing to her as well."

Summer rejoined her Selects teammates after recently wrapping up a national team camp in Trinidad and Tobago where Canada took a pair of games from the host country. She will play for Richmond on Sunday and potentially the semi-final as well before leaving to rejoin the national team as it begins final preparations for the CONCACAF U17 Women's Championships, slated for May 2-13 in Guatemala. Three of the eight participating countries will qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup, slated for later this year in Azerbaijan.

mbooth@richmond-news.com