For many female soccer players, they fell in love with soccer from their very first touch of the ball.
For Mikeila Oliveira from the Cariboo-North East team (Zone 8), this was not the case.
“I didn’t like soccer at first, but now I always play,” Oliveira said. “When Im not playing soccer, I am in the back yard with a ball, when I am not in the back yard I have a soccer ball with me and kick it around the house.”
Oliveira’s passion for soccer has even inspired her to write letters to her soccer idols such as Christine Sinclair and Karina LeBlanc. She has also started earning and saving money through odd jobs in order to buy a ticket to go see Brazilian player Marta Vieira da Silva.
Some players, such as Madeleine Richardson from the Fraser River-Delta team, were surprised more than anything to have made the team. Richardson had doubts when trying out for the Delta team and was very surprised when she got the call confirming she had made it.
With Richardson’s contribution to her Fraser River-Delta team (Zone 4), they made it to the semifinal match that takes place Sunday morning, where they will be facing off against Thompson-Okanagan (Zone 2) for the bronze medal.
