Two Hay River teams won banners at the recent Elks Outdoor Soccer Tournament, held from Sept. 21-23.
Diamond Jennesss Secondary School (DJSS) won the Girls A final by beating Yellowknife's St. Pat's White 4-0 in the final game.
In the Boys A final, DJSS edged St. Pat's 1 by a score of 2-1.
Three other teams from Hay River schools made the finals in their divisions.
Princess Alexandra (PA) School Blue was edged 1-0 in the Grade 4/5 girls division by Ecole J.H. Sissons of Yellowknife.
Ecole J.H. Sissons also won a final game 1-0 over the Grades 4/5 boys from Ecole Boreale.
The Grades 6/7 Girls from William McDonald School in Yellowknife also earned a 1-0 victory over PA School 2.
And, William McDonald School earned another 1-0 win to take the Grades 8/9 banner over DJSS.
Yellowknife schools won the four remaining banners – William McDonald School White in the Grades 6/7 boys division, St. Pat's White for Grades 8/9 boys, Sir John Franklin High School in the Girls AA Division and Sir John Blue and Sir John Gold, which met in the Boys AA final and decided to share the banner.
Kelly Webster, a teacher at Diamond Jenness and the main organizer of the tournament, said the event went well this year.
"All fields ran well and people seemed happy and I think it was a success," she said.
The 14th-annual edition of the tournament attracted 46 teams, including 33 from out of town. Those teams were made up of 593 players in total.
Along with the host community, teams came from Yellowknife, Fort Smith, N'Dilo, Fort Resolution and Fort Simpson, which included students from Fort Liard.
Webster founded the tournament and this was her final time organizing the event as she is retiring as a teacher at the end of the school year.
She believes she will miss organizing the tournament, the largest soccer event each year in Hay River.
"But I think it's always good to have new blood kind of taking over and see what direction they can take it in," she said.
Two other Diamond Jenness teachers – Phil Goguen and Marina Marshall – have already agreed to organize the tournament next year.
Plus, Webster said she will still be helping out next year.
The founder has seen the Elks Outdoor Soccer Tournament grow over the years.
"The first year we started with just one field and expanded to two and now we're in three," she said. "And we're pretty much at the point where we'll either have to get a fourth field or start restricting entries. The more successful you get the more planning you have to do."
Webster said options for a fourth field are being considered.
One year, a soccer field was set up on the driving range at the golf course and that worked out well.
Other possibilities for a fourth field are the ball diamond in Old Town and a space in the Industrial Area.
Webster said 46 teams are about the upper limit of the number that can be accommodated on three fields.
The tournament is currently held on fields at Diamond Jenness, PA School and Tri-Service Park.