Just as he did when he was active in the soccer community, the spirit of Steve Steele still brings people together on the soccer pitch every Boxing Day.
The former Cup of Milk Fund charity game has changed to benefit cancer research in honour of Steele, the only player to have his jersey (number 10) retired.
Hundreds of Steele’s friends and family were on hand to watch a thrilling 3-2, penalty-kick win for Powell River Villa over the Over 35 All Stars.
Steele’s son Jeff, who was visiting with his family for the holiday, was on hand to watch the game that really didn’t give him the same pleasure as it had his dad.
Jeff is an associate head coach of the baseball team at Central Oklahoma University in a career connected to a sport that defied family logic.
“I played every other sport, you name it, but never got involved with local soccer,” he admitted. “It was just something that never took place.”
Nevertheless, as fathers do, Jeff’s dad embarked on a steep learning curve to cheer on his son who was a pretty good baseball player.
“As I was growing up, going through the ranks of D.A. Evans Park to Manson Park,” he recalled, “he was learning the sport, which I think was intriguing to him, too. He knew how much I enjoyed it and saw how passionate I was about it so he wanted to be a part of it as well. So he took a liking to it...He always used to compare it to cricket, but there’s not much of a comparison.”
Villa lost to the All Stars last year 1-0, so it came out hungry to establish the lead.
Less than five minutes in, it worked the ball deep where after a couple of passes Brody Harry was able to tap in the game’s first goal.
The All Stars scared Villa minutes later when Steve Orchiston’s header careened off the crossbar and again right when a shot bounced off the base of the goal post.
Both sides had several chances to score before the half but Villa caught a break when a clearing attempt by the Over 35s bounced off the back of one of their own and in.
Right on the heels of that unfortunate break, Jake Kenmuir was almost clear but taken down in the box by a defender.
Ben Elliot stepped up to take the penalty kick but All Stars’ keeper, Rick Bombardir, held his ground to squeeze the hard shot between his legs and keep the score 2-0.
His save sparked the Over 35s who made a run straight down the pitch and Kyle Vasseur put a low blast to the right of keeper Marm Fortier at 68 minutes.
Fair to say that both keepers were very sharp, but it was Fortier’s turn to stop a penalty kick when Over 35s Tony Leach got the call midway through the half.
With an opportunity to tie the game, the veteran was outguessed by Fortier who dove to his left and made a great save for Villa.
The save preserved the one-goal lead for the moment but the Over 35s recovered to tie the game at 2-2 when Darren Mousseau scored on a hard shot minutes later.
The game led into penalty kicks to decide a winner where Jordan Peters, Charles Timothy, Harry and Kenmuir scored on four consecutive shots while Leach, a good friend of Steele’s, fell short on his second penalty kick of the day to keep it going.
“Went right the first time and left the second time,” laughed Leach of his two kicks in the game, “but both of them I didn’t hit. When you get over 50 the message from your brain just doesn’t transfer through to your foot.”
More than the score, Leach admitted to memories of Steele throughout the day. “I went on a few trips with Steve and we had a lot of good times,” he said with a smile, not about to divulge any details.
Most valuable player awards were presented to Mousseau for the Over 35s and Kenmuir for Villa.
“Team made me look good, I guess,” said Kenmuir. “A bunch of great names have won this award, guys I’ve grown up watching, and it’s a big honour, especially in a charity game.”
