NESS FIRES UP FUTURE CAPERS AT AWARDS BANQUET

CBU WOMEN's Soccer Head Coach Ness Timmons captivated the next generation of CAPERS with a superb speech at Cape Breton FC's Awards Banquet at Centre 200. 

Ness was the guest of honour to present the CBFC Team of the Year and give a talk to almost 200 aspiring young soccer players on the topic "What it Takes to be a CAPER." 

Coach Timmons took the players through a journey of the values of the CAPERS program and then presented the Team of the Year Award to the outstanding U13AA Girls coached by Tyler Kaupp, one of Ness' former players Krista Mills, and CBFC alumni Ashlyn Tierney. 

It was an inspirational address and 48 hours later the U13AA Girls embarked on a weekend that saw them defeat Suburban FC and then Valley United to complete an Invincible Season and be crowned Soccer Nova Scotia Provincial champions for 2024. They did it on home turf, on the field named after Cape Breton soccer legend Ness and that is truly fitting. 

Coach Timmons said: "It's terrific to see Krista, who was a National U SPORTS champion with our program in 2007, so heavily involved in the coaching at CBFC now. I reflected to the teams that we had 11 Cape Breton players in that Nationals winning squad and I know the talent is there on the island. It's great to see CBFC flourishing again." 

The Awards Banquet was the precursor to a huge weekend for CBFC as the U13s Girls sealed their title on home soil and the U15AA Boys were also crowned best in Nova Scotia in their Final Four tournament in Halifax. 

Regional Director of Soccer Development Iain King said: "In soccer, we use the term legend too easily at times, but Ness truly is a legend of the game on this island. We were very privileged to have him come out and be Guest of Honour when he is in the midst of pre-season with the CAPERS. 

"He was inspirational, I had one player come up and show me all the notes she had taken on her phone of his words. That's pretty special and that's when you know you have made an impact." 

• Our picture shows Ness presenting the CBFC Team of the Year Award to the U13AA Girls. They are: 

• (LEFT TO RIGHT, Back Row): Coach Ashlyn Tierney, Ellie Fogarty, Jena Macaulay, Rita Aikens, Liz Carrigan, Tessa MacNeil, Ness Timmons, Ella Mills, Norah MacDonald, Coach Krista Mills, Coach Tyler Kaupp. 

• (LEFT TO RIGHT, Front Row): Evelyn Power, Allie Penny, Claire Kaupp, Avery Kelloway, Elise Angione, Mya Boudreau. Missing from our picture is the champions' defender Carly Richardson.