Three Mountain United FC soccer players were invited to the Canada Soccer women’s national EXCEL under-14/-17 development camp in Burnaby.
Director Bev Priestman named the 26 talented female youth players into the final National development camp of 2015. The camp will take place at Fortius Sport & Health Centre in Burnaby from Sept. 8 to 18, where it will continue the development of players in Canada’s Women's EXCEL Program, which is designed to ensure more of Canada's young female players find their way into the best competitive environments, thus providing Canada’s women’s national team with a steady stream of high-caliber players to ensure Canada remains competitive on the world stage.
“We are really excited to work with this talented group again following a busy summer as hosts to both the FIFA Women’s World Cup and Pan American Games,” said Priestman in a Canada Soccer press release. “We have no doubt the group has been inspired by such world class, global events here on Canadian soil.”
Many of the players attending this camp had the opportunity to watch as Canada’s women’s national team brought EXCEL program concepts to life during international play this past summer. The experience of watching their soccer heroes deliver on the principles they are learning will be reinforced in this camp as players learn firsthand from former Canadian women’s national team members Candace Chapman and Tania Singfield, who have joined the EXCEL camp staff.
“The EXCEL staff is really motivated to push these girls to the next level of development on their women’s national team journey and we would love to see more young talented players move up the system with their hard work. Our job is to lay the foundations,” added Priestman.
September’s camp brings together a mixture of talent, half of whom have had the opportunity to experience three youth FIFA World Cups, and some new recruits who have been identified since the previous EXCEL development camp in April.
This combination of experienced international competitors, and fresh faces, gives the EXCEL programme a depth of talent ahead of next summer’s FIFA u-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016, and with a full quarter of attendees eligible for the following FIFA u-17 Women’s World Cup in 2018, for years to come.
GK- Mollie Eriksson | CAN / Ottawa South United (Ont.)
GK- Lysianne Proulx | CAN / Rousillon (Que.)
GK- Marissa Zucchetto | CAN / Erin Mills SC (Ont.)
D- Ashley Cathro | CAN / Vancouver Island Wave
D- Samantha Chang | CAN / Brams United SC (Ont.)
D- Kennedy Faulknor | CAN / Unionville Milliken SC (Ont.)
D- Julia Grosso | CAN / Mountain United FC
D- Reese Moffat | CAN / Surrey United SC
D- Kayla Mostowich | CAN / Edmonton Strikers Soccer Club (Alta.)
D- Sarah Ochitwa | CAN / High Performance Development Centre (Sask.)
D- Emma Regan | CAN / Mountain United FC
M- Nahida Baalbaki | CAN / Lakeshore SC (Que.)
M- Danielle Camilleri | CAN / Dixie SC (Ont.)
M- Anyssa Ibrahim | CAN / CS Terrebonne (Que.)
M- Vital Kats | CAN / Unionville Milliken Soccer Club (Ont.)
M- Caitlin Shaw | CAN / Whitecaps FC Girls
M- Sarah Stratigakis | CAN / Woodbridge Soccer Club (Ont.)
F- Teni Akindoju |CAN / Halifax Dunbrack SC, (N.S.)
F- Shana Flynn | CAN / Brams United SC (Ont.)
F- Camila Gomez | CAN / Mountain United FC
F- Jordyn Huitema | CAN / Whitecaps FC Girls
F- Mya Jones | CAN / Calgary Foothills (Alta.)
F- Lauren Raimondo | CAN / Burlington SC (Ont.)
F- Jayde Riviere | CAN / Markham Soccer Club (Ont.)
F- Deanne Rose | CAN / Bradford Soccer Club (Ont.)
F- Aaliyah Scott | CAN / Toronto Skillz FC (Ont.)
