Soccer players in Ladysmith will get a chance to learn from some of this country’s top female players this Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday, Sept. 4 and Friday, Sept. 5, the Mid-Isle Soccer Club will host four members of Canada’s Olympic bronze medal-winning Women’s National Soccer Team.
Melissa Tancredi, Karina LeBlanc, Diana Matheson and Rhian Wilkinson will be at Forrest Field in Ladysmith to provide two-hour training sessions, photos and autographs for local soccer players.
Additionally, a Leadership Luncheon question-and-answer session for registered players will be held at the Transfer Beach Amphitheater Friday, Sept. 5 at 11:30 a.m.
“The players themselves are who spearheaded this,” said Lynn Krynowsky, whose child plays for Mid-Isle Tier 3 rep and who has been working on getting the Olympic players to Ladysmith for more than a year. “They really wanted to come to the Island. I started talking to them a year ago, and this is one of the places they pointed to. It’s very exciting that we get to showcase our island. I’m very thrilled.”
The fee for the luncheon is $15. Registered players and their parents and siblings will get priority, and if there are spaces left, the Leadership Luncheon will be opened up to the public.
Krynowsky says this will be an opportunity to hear from the players and ask them questions.
“They are going to tell their stories,” she said. “Melissa Tancredi is a chiropractic doctor; they’re highly educated. Some of them have been bullied in school, they’ve not made teams.”
Krynowsky says the players will also have their bronze medals from the 2012 Summer Olympics with them.
The fee for the training session is $165, and a T-shirt will be provided. Players are asked to bring cleats, shin pads and a water bottle.
“The clinics are small — they like to have personalized time with the kids,” said Krynowsky.
There will be a training session for players born from 2005-2009 (U6-U10) Thursday, Sept. 4 from 4-6 p.m.
The training session for players born from 2001-2004 (U11-U14) will be Thursday, Sept. 4 from 7-9 p.m.
There will also be a training session for players born from 1997-2000 (U15-U18) Friday, Sept. 5 from 4-6 p.m.
All training sessions will be held at Forrest Field in Ladysmith, rain or shine, and Krynowsky says people can come watch the clinics from the sidelines if they are interested.
Tancredi, Wilkinson, LeBlanc and Matheson will be heading into residency in Vancouver right after this in preparation for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, which is being hosted by Canada.
“All these players will be playing for Canada in June in the World Cup,” noted Krynowsky.
For more information and a link to the online registration form, visit www.midislesoccer.com. Space is limited.