Chilliwack teen faces a wide field of decisions
Golden Boot winner Jordyn Huitema, 17, drawing interest from pro teams, U.S. colleges
Things are happening very fast for Jordyn Huitema.
The 17-year-old from Chilliwack has already won 11 caps for Canada and recently made two guest appearances for European powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain at the Women’s International Champions Cup.
In January she won the Golden Boot as top scorer at the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship in Trinidad and Tobago. In April and June, serving as captain, she helped Canada qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which kicks off Nov. 13 in Uruguay, with an assist on the decisive goal by Andersen Williams.
In October, the Canadian senior team will look to qualify for the 2019 World Cup via the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship in Texas.
“If you blink you miss it,” Huitema said of her crowded calendar. “It’s been a crazy ride. It’s great. It’s really cool to be able to play with three age groups. The opportunities are endless.”
About to enter Grade 12, Huitema will soon have to make a decision on her soccer future — college or the pros. She says she is still looking at all her options.
“I’m still kind of in the dark where I want to take things,” she told reporters. “Coming up pretty soon I’ll have to make a decision but I’m not in a rush or anything like that."
First up for Huitema is Canada’s friendly today against Brazil at Ottawa’s TD Place. It’s the first meeting between the fifth-ranked Canada and No. 7 Brazil since the 2016 Olympic bronze-medal match won 2-1 by the Canadians.
There is no shortage of interest in Huitema, who is in her fifth year with the Vancouver Whitecaps’ Girls Elite Super REX program. U.S. college pitches go straight to an adviser, who works for the Whitecaps and serves as a buffer for the young forward.
“None of them really communicate directly through me unless I allow them to ... It’s definitely not super stressful,” she said.
Huitema could skip college and enter the NWSL via the allocation process as U.S. international forward Mallory Pugh did last year — leaving UCLA without playing a game to join the Washington Spirit.
Paris Saint-Germain has already shown there is European interest and Canadian teammates such as Ashley Lawrence (PSG), Kadeisha Buchanan (Lyon) and Janine Beckie (Manchester City) are already playing at an elite level across the Atlantic.
Or she could go the college route like fellow Canadian Jessie Fleming, a star midfielder at UCLA. Given Huitema did not sign a contract to play briefly with PSG, she has maintained her college eligibility.
But she got a taste of how an elite team works, starting for PSG against the North Carolina Courage and coming off the bench against Manchester City in late July in Miami.
“It was great. It was really cool to see a pro environment and see how they do things on and off the field,” she said.
At 5-9, Huitema has size, pace and vision. She turned heads when then-coach John Herdman had her train with the national team at 14. She made her senior debut at 15 at the Algarve Cup in March 2017 and drew more attention three months later when the 16-year-old scored twice coming off the bench against Costa Rica at Toronto’s BMO Field.
The first goal, while a milestone, was not that memorable — bouncing in off a limb after a goalmouth scramble. But the second, which came one minute later, was pure sniper as she lashed a rightfooted shot into the net.
Huitema is part of a Super REX Centre program that allows top female soccer prospects from across Canada to attend school, train, and play together in Burnaby where she lives with a billet family. The program is headed by former New Zealand international Emma Humphries.
Huitema and her teammates usually play boys sides, although sometimes they face university women’s teams.
She is joined at the Ottawa friendly by teammates Maya Antoine, Julia Grosso and Jayde Riviere. “I’m super-excited,” she said of the game.