Playing for Payden
practice Thursday night. “I know our entire team, our hearts just broke. She was a great defender, so losing her in that aspect was a huge blow. But that being said, we have a really strong team this year. So we just want to go out and do well this weekend and make her proud and support her.”
The team held a fundraiser for Olsen Aug. 7 in her Cardston hometown.
Kodiaks head coach Sean Carey marvelled at his player’s progress since the accident over a month ago.
“She went to rehab on Wednesday and she got into a walker and she put some weight on her left foot, which the doctors didn’t think she would do for a long, long time,” said Carey. “She’s a miracle. The doctors are (saying) ‘I can’t believe how everything is healing.’ Her right foot which was amputed is all pretty much healed up and she’s ready for prosthetics. They did an X-ray on her broken left ankle and it’s pretty much fully healed. It’s a great story. Obviously, we don’t want to be talking about that, I’d rather be talking about her being a player on the field. But you know what? We deal with what we have put in front of us. She’s an inspiration to all of us and we look forward to seeing her on the weekend. Nobody will wear her jersey (No. 9) this year. So when she comes on Saturday she can be dressed with her number nine. She’ll be on the bench. We’re pretty excited to see her there.”
The Kodiaks look to build on a 2017 season in which the team went Went 2-7-1 and finished fifth in the ACAC South Division, missing the playoffs.
“Sean recruited a lot of players this year, more than in past years,” said Klein, who hails from Saskatoon. “Most of the players are pretty young, so it’s going to be a good learning experience for everyone to get to learn how everyone plays and see everyone’s strengths.”
Among the veterans is fourthyear midfielder Vicki Noronha.
“It’s nice to not be a first-year, you know what’s going on,” said the vetearn who hails from Brooks. “It’s just a good responsiblility.”
Carey noted the strong rookie presence.
“Our first years are strong,” he said. “Mark (Pries, assistant coach) and I recruited pretty heavily this year to try and get some players. We have three local girls coming in, too, (with) Tori and Taylor Smith and Hanna Luskey. They’re all pushing every week for starting spots and for first years, it’s a big deal. But I like the balance we have. We have an abundance of speed, strength and vision. The girls battle. They’re physical, which we know that in the South of the ACAC you have to be. We try to mould our girls around that.”