United girls stepping up to Premier Soccer League
One Swift Current United Soccer Club team has made an ambitious decision to spend the next four months battling against the top soccer players from across the province.
The Under-14 United Girls will be only the second Swift Current team to play in the Saskatchewan Premier Soccer League when they kick off their 10-game regular season schedule early next month.
The team will be coached Dale Perry, who was recently named the Grassroots Coach of the Year by the Saskatchewan Soccer Association. Steven Mah, Kaity Letwiniuk, who is coming off her rookie season with the Medicine Hat College Rattlers, and Cindy Froehlich round out the coaching staff.
Swift Current teams have traditionally played at the Div II level, one step below the PSL. Perry explained that the drive behind entering the PSL came about with the idea of taking a serious run at the PSL in U16 next season with this group of players combined with a strong group of players one year older.
“As it turned out, this year we are finding that we are stronger in this group than we originally anticipated. Although the plan was to go in PSL this year anyway, we are now going in more than just to develop the players, but more with the sense that we can be extremely competitive and with a few things going our way maybe even have a chance to win this year.”
The team is comprised primarily of players from Swift Current and are joined by three from Moose Jaw, who will be key contributors.
“They were all members of the Summer Games teams so the coaches are familiar with the players, the players are familiar with them and they fit in really well. They have a very good skill set and they add a lot to the team and will help make us that much more competitive this year,” explained Perry.
They will also bring up affiliate players from the Div II United girls to provide depth and to give a few more Swift Current girls exposure to the highest level of soccer in Saskatchewan.
Perry coached the only other Swift Current team to compete in the PSL when the U14 United girls played in 2003. He said that the caliber of play has gone up since then.
“We will be going in on a bit of a wing and prayer not really knowing what our competition is.”
The United girls won an exhibition game 2-1 on Saturday against Regina Unidad, one of their five PSL opponents this season. They know very little about the three Saskatoon entries or Prince Albert, who are the defending champions after running roughshod over the league last season.
The United coaching staff hope that taking this bold step up into the PSL will pay dividends for the girls in the long run.
“I think that they are at an advantage now that probably no other group that we have had in the past has had as a group to advance. Although we have had good players over the years and they have earned scholarships and gone on to play university and college, I think the potential for this group is quite high that we place quite a number of these girls in higher level soccer,” said Perry.
Co-captain Mackenzie Froehlich, who will play xThe U14 United girls have been busy preparing for their upcoming season in the Saskatchewan Premier Soccer League. striker and midfield, is expected to be one of the key contributors this season. She is a veteran member of Team Saskatchewan and was recently named to Team Saskatchewan again this summer.
“I think we are looking pretty good. We have some good strikers and defense, so all put together we will be a pretty good team,” said Froehlich.
She is looking forward to battling with the province’s top players in the PSL.
“I think it will be a challenge but it will be good, something new and playing some different people.” Froehlich said she expects the biggest challenge to be the speed of play against higher caliber players.
Midfielder Kirah Brown played in the PSL last season with the Moose Jaw Storm.
“It is really tough and the girls are really strong and really physical. We really need to get on our feet and fight for the ball and get there first,” said Brown.
She made the move to play in Swift Current to take her game to the next level. “I think this team will help me to improve my skills and just really push me to do my best.”
She thinks the team is coming together nicely as they near their regular season opener.
“It is looking pretty strong,” said Brown. “I think we have a good chance to go pretty far in the PSL league.”
Most of the members of the United U14 girls played together at the 2012 Saskatchewan Summer Games in Meadow Lake and the team is hopeful that they can rekindle the same chemistry that helped them place fourth.
“It might be a little hard but we know each other pretty well from Summer Games so we just need to get back on track from where we were last summer,” said Brown.
“Yeah it might take a little while, but eventually we will all be playing together and we will know where everyone is going,” added Froehlich.
The U14 United will be back in action this weekend when they head to Alberta for two games against the host Medicine Hat Rattlers and two against the MUSC Fire out of Calgary.