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Roman
Tulis' U15 boys blasted their way into Dutch history books
in May 2003 coming away with a spectacular third place finish
beating top level youth teams Ajax Amsterdam and PSV Eidenhoven!
European skeptics and naysayers had said it couldn't be
done, and even after the fact, loyal Dutch fans insisted
that it must have been a game of Nintendo in which the Canadian
boys were the victors against super club Ajax Amsterdam
- not - heaven forbid a soccer game!
The boys, who had been on a two week tour of Holland, competed
in the Invitational 18th Annual International OSM '75 tournament
in Maarssen, Holland. Tournament participants included NAC
Breda, Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eidenhoven, Sparta Rotterdam,
and Luton Town (England) just to name a few. At the end
of day one of the two day round-robin tournament, the Tulis
boys found themselves in 4th place. They had won 2 of their
3 games, beating Luton Town (England) 1:0 and DWSM Maarssen
5:0. Unfortunately they had lost to Sparta Rotterdam 3:0,
but they didn't come away from that game empty handed.
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Very
valuable lessons had been learned. Day two, the boys took
those lessons and were able to capitalize on the next few
competitions. They won three of their four games. In their
first, they scored in the third minute of the second half
against Ajax Amsterdam and held on for an extremely exciting
1:0 win. Next they met NAC Breda and unfortunately, came
up on the short end of a 1:0 score. It was an exciting game
nonetheless, with a scoreless first half.
NAC
Breda finally scored in the sixth minute of the second half
and that was all the scoring needed. NAC Breda eventually
went on to win all of their games and were the 1st Place
champions of the tournament.
The
Tulis boy's third game was against PSV Eidenhoven, another
of the 'gold standard' teams in Holland. There was no scoring
in the first half. The Tulis squad scored at the nine minute
mark of the second half and then again five minutes later
and that was the end of that!
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The
boys were suddenly in the thick of the chase for the honors!
Their final game was against the home team, OSM '75 which
they won 1:0 and captured their Third Place overall title.
Needless to say, everybody was thrilled and very excited.
Ajax Amsterdam and the Tulis boys were tied with 15 points
each at the end of the tournament, but Ajax finished ahead
of the Canadian boys - taking the Second Place title - due
to goal-differentials. There is no question that the Tulis
School now has a standing, automatic invitation back to
this yearly high level tournament.
During
the boys two week tour of Holland, they played two tournaments
and 13 games in total. They won eight, tied two and lost
three. They had outscored their opposition 14:5. A truly
ecstatic Roman Tulis said, "The boys should all be
very proud of themselves. They did a fantastic job. They
exceeded everybody's expectations - including their own!
Folks in Holland were truly impressed by their achievements."
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