Defender carves place in football elite

Shawnigan Lake’s Chris Pastro and his new Team BC under-18 football crew members beat out Nova Scotia 38 to 3 July 17 to take the bronze medal win at the 2010 Football Canada Cup competition at Acadia University.

Read More: [URL]http://www.bclocalnews.com/sports/99282524.html

Pastro, who turns 18 in October, and who’s also secured himself as one of the province’s elite 40 players at the under-18 level, was pretty shocked when he found out he’d made the cut for the provincial team.

Pastro started with the Cowichan Bulldogs as an atom player and tackled his way to the Team B.C. selection panel.

The squad, who was competing at its first Football Canada Cup since 2000, was ranked eighth going in and came out with an overall record of two wins and one loss.

Its only defeat came in the hands of the gold medal winning team, Saskatchewan.

“This bronze medal victory is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all the players, the coaching staff and the support staff,” said Team BC Head Coach Tom Kudaba in a press release.

“While we fell short of our ultimate goal of winning a gold medal, I feel our team’s performance has shown that the minor and high school football players developed in British Columbia are among the best in Canada and I believe Football BC will be able to build on our success this year in future national tournaments.”

Saturday, B.C. managed to do something it had not been able to do in its first two games of the tournament: score early and score often, the press release indicated.

According to Team B.C. defensive coach Dino Geremia, Pastro’s aggressiveness and thirst for contact in the tourney didn’t go unnoticed.

“It was a pleasure working with Chris and I know he has a bright football future ahead,” Geremia said. “Chris was one of those players that all through the tryouts and evaluation camp kept performing with great passion and excitement. His aggressiveness and thirst for contact were the characteristics that made him a great find for Team B.C.

“In the gruelling Canada Cup Tournament Chris once again demonstrated he belonged amongst the best players in the country. In the game against Nova Scotia Chris blew up a lead blocker allowing the rest of the defense to swarm.”

By Ashley Gaudreault – Cowichan News Leader Pictorial
Published: July 26, 2010 6:00 PM
Updated: July 26, 2010 6:01 PM