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Comradeship is coach's reward, school board hears

The most rewarding moment of Queen Charlotte Secondary soccer coach Kevin Borserio's season didn't come during a game, or even out on the field. It took place in a van, on the highway between Terrace and Prince Rupert, late on a snowy night last year. Mr. Borserio, who was driving, was the only person in the van still awake. He took a quick look at his nine passengers, all high school boys, all headed back to the islands after playing and losing at a tournament in Terrace."In the back row I saw three players together, one from Queen Charlotte, one from Skidegate, and one from Port," he told the school board last week when it met at Queen Charlotte Secondary. "They were all asleep, with their heads on each others' shoulders." In the next row, were two players from Port and one from Skidegate; in the first row, two from Charlotte one either side of one from Port.To see the comradeship between these students from different communities - "that was my reward as coach for the season," Mr. Borserio said. "That was a priceless reward."Mr. Borserio told the board that the QCSS boys' soccer team had 25 players last year, and was the only school team which included members from all five grades. Team members came from Skidegate, Queen Charlotte, Tlell, Sandspit and Port Clements. They played in off-island tournaments in Hazelton, Terrace and Langley, ending the season with 12 losses and one win.The win-loss record was only one small part of the team's achievements, Mr. Borserio said.He told the board that the team practiced three times a week, and team members did all their homework so they would be able to go to the off-island tournaments. Even though they lost a lot of games, they never quit or got discouraged. At the Langley tournament, team captain Billy Yovanovich received a provincial award.Mr. Borserio and parent John Broadhead showed trustees a photo/video presentation called "The Road to Langley" about the team's season, and thanked the board for the financial support which had allowed it to travel to the provincial tournament.With budget time approaching, Mr. Borserio said he wanted to remind trustees of an Albert Einstein quote: "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."School trustees thanked Mr. Borserio and Mr. Broadhead for the presentation, and for the time they've devoted to the soccer team."We wish you all the best for next year," said chair Wayne Wilson. "It's something those boys really enjoy."Trustee Lisa Gyorgy said the board is well aware that for some students, the experience of being part of the soccer team is all that's keeping them in school.Mr. Borserio also answered what he called a "tough question" from trustee Christine Martynuik, who asked him if he was satisfied with the soccer field at Queen Charlotte Secondary.Mr. Borserio said the soccer coaches and players have come to accept the size of the field, which is narrower than it should have been. He also said they appreciate the improvements to the sod but it's not perfect."It should be better than it is," he said. "I wish it would be greener and softer and grow more, I don't know why it hasn't."The sod in the eastern portion of the field is not as good as the rest because it spent weeks and weeks waiting in Prince Rupert for transportation to the islands after the Queen of the North sank two years ago, Mr. Borserio said. By the time it arrived on the islands it had started to rot.