VANCOUVER, BC - A number of Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite players will have one final hurdle to clear before they can celebrate a season where they have won everything imaginable. Much of the team will play together one last time representing Team BC at this year’s annual Canada Summer Games hosted in Sherbrooke, Quebec from August 2 to 17.
Led by Girls Elite head coach Jesse Symons, 17 girls from the 'Caps squad that he guided to the Pacific Coast Soccer League (PCSL) treble (PSCL regular season title and winners of the Dave Fryatt Challenge winners and the Kevin McAdams Memorial Cup holders) along with hoisting the Gothia Youth World Cup in Sweden, will represent Team BC at the Canada Games, as well as Nicole Mawson from Coastal FC.
The Canada Games comes on the heels of the completion of a dominating PCSL campaign that saw the young ‘Caps finish at the top of the table with 14W-2L-0T.
“They’re tired, but they’re ready to go," said Symons. "It’s been a long and successful season. They really do care about each other and they’ll look to showcase that one more time in the week ahead."
The girls have been placed in Group 1 along with Manitoba and New Brunswick. Having arrived in Quebec on Thursday night, they will have a practice at 8 a.m. ET on Friday morning in preparation for their two group games. First up for the girls is a nationally broadcasted game on TSN2 versus New Brunswick on Saturday, August 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:35 p.m. PT. They then have a day off before taking on Manitoba the following Monday, August 5, at 5 a.m. PT.
In order to move on to the quarterfinals, Team BC must finish as one of the top two teams in the group.
Despite the fatigue of a long season, Symons is confident of the mental fortitude possessed by his squad.
“The big thing with this group all season long is that they’ve been focused with the event that they’ve been at," Symons praised. "This will be no different.
"Playing against teams that are playing for a national championship is always a great opportunity and we look forward to hopefully get through the group stage and into the knockout round.”
2013 Team BC roster
Julia McDonald
Priya Sandhu
Kathryn Baker
Aman Shergill
Nikki Turney
Nicola Mawson
Sam Donald
Rachel Jones
Sam Dion
Jasmine Mander
Reetu Johal
Alessia Azermadhi
Seina Kashima
Chelsea Harkins
Sessen Stevens
Jasmin Dhanda
Margaret Hadley
Simmrin Dhaliwal
2013 Canada Summer Games SCHEDULE
Saturday, August 3 at 11:35 a.m. PT – New Brunswick (Broadcasted on TSN 2)
Monday, August 5 at 8:00 a.m. PT – Manitoba (Streamed live here:http://canadagames.tv/Home/SportsEvents?sport=Soccer)
Group 1
Province PTS GP W L D GF GA GD
Team BC
Team Manitoba
Team New Brunswick
