CLAIRE KAUPP NAMED TRUESPORT REGIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

NEW WATERFORD WOLVES alumni Claire Kaupp has been named the Cape Breton Truesport Grassroots Regional Player of the Year.

The Cape Breton FC U13AA Girls midfielder was a standout performer for the #ForeverOrange Academy in the Nova Scotia Soccer League as the team coached by Michelle Macaulay, CBU Capers 2007 USports National Women's champion Krista Mills and Claire's father Tyler reached the Provincial Final Four in their first season in Tier One.

Yet Claire's on-field talents are only part of why she will receive this prestigious award at the Nova Scotia Soccer Night of Excellence in Halifax on Saturday night (December 2).

Soccer Cape Breton's Regional Director of Soccer Development Iain King said: "Claire qualified with her on-field talent to make the Halifax Top 60 Camp for 2011 born players even though she is a 2012 player so that shows how gifted she is on the field.

"The rules mean that the target year for Team Nova Scotia is rightly given precedence and I know that she was disappointed not to make that trip in August after playing so well in the Showcases at Acadia and StFX.

"It would have been easy for Claire to get down about that but instead she reacted magnificently. This year in our Regional Training Centre sessions she leads the way as a target year player and she helps every one of our 2013 born players from around the island find their way in RTC.

"One practice summed this up for me last summer, we had the new development girls in and she volunteered to play out of position at centre-back and even in goal to help them all settle in playing in their favourite slots.

"Then she picked up the ball and looked about to play the sensible pass and I said: 'Now go and have some fun.' She slalomed through three players and ran the length of the field to crash one in with her weaker left foot.

"She looked up with this goofy, shy smile and I just laughed. It summed her up that she chose to be a good team-mate first and had the humility to behave like that. Those are the qualities that make her a deserved winner of this award."

* OUR picture shows a determined Claire in action for Team Cape Breton. In the second SNS U12 showcase at Antigonish our team won all three games and didn't concede a goal in a superb weekend. PHOTOGRAPH: Josh Slate.