NACI Varsity Girls team prepares for soccer season
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- Published on Tuesday, September 8, 2015
File photo. The NACI Tigers regular season in Zone Seven will begin in mid-September.
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Press
The Neepawa Area Collegiate Institute (NACI) varsity girls soccer team has returned to the pitch for another season. Just over 35 players attended the first week of training camp.
Head coach Kaiten Critchlow said those numbers are up dramatically from previous years. He attributes this to the efforts of the Neepawa United Soccer Association (NUSA) to grow the game locally for the increasing interest.
“The numbers we’re seeing for training camp are very impressive. Part of that is due Neepawa’s Soccer Association doing such a good job of developing the game in the community. It’s easy to get into the sport and it’s a good way for a lot of athletes to stay conditioned and fit over the summer. It’s also a fun sport and a good team sport. So I think kids that get into [soccer] when they’re young are sticking with it and we’re at that point now where the level of interest is just incredible,” said Critchlow.
The girls varsity team is hoping to build on 2014’s success, which saw them make it to the Zone Seven Championship game. The Tigers would end up losing that game in a shootout and then lose its wildcard bid to get into provincials also with a shootout defeat. Critchlow said that although that type end to the season was disappointing, he’s sure it will motivate the returning players.
“The results from the Zone Championship and the wildcard game made for a disappointing end to the season, but it was still something the players should be very proud of. They’re coming into this season a bit more experienced and on top of that extremely motivated,” noted Critchlow. “We have a lot of returning players. We graduated just three girls, so we have, I believe 11 Grade 12 players back for another year. What I’m hoping for is that it motivates our players and gives them that experience on how to win a game late and how to win those close games. As far as our roster, our core group is phenomenal. We have a few grade 11 and 10’s and we have a ton of interesting grade nine players with some talent. It’s a real mix. We’ve got a lot of talented players, so it’s very exciting.”
Roster decisions for the girls varsity team will likely be finalized within the next few days. The Zone Seven regular season will begin in mid-September.
