CAPERS GIRLS SPARKLE AT FTF SHOWCASE
CAPE BRETON FC's U17AAA Academy Girls program team had 11 players involved in the prestigious FTF Showcase at East Hants at the weekend and the island contingent shone brightly in elite soccer company.
The event began with four sports science sections when the athletes from across Nova Scotia were tested in the 40-yard dash, the Mid-Thigh Pull, the Vertical Jump and Pro Agility.
CAPERS striker Ava MacDonald, a member of the current Canada Games squad, won the dash with left-back Mattea MacKinnon ranking first showing her strength and athleticism in the Mid-Thigh Pull.
CBFC then had Ella Barry top the table in the Vertical Jump with team-mate Ava placing fifth in that category. Ella's all-round athletic profile was then confirmed when she also landed a top 5 place in the Pro Agility section.
When the action began ON the field the CAPERS Academy players didn't let up with excellent performances across the board that saw centre-back Sophia Peach, midfielder Alyse Tierney and forward Ava all scooping Player of the Match awards in the Games Series.
The bulk of the CAPERS players will be 2025 and 2026 graduates but the strength in depth is shown by the fact that both Sophia and attacker Charley Sawlor, who also had some stand-out displays, won't be taking the University plunge until 2027.
Proud U17AAA Head Coach Mitch Hanna, who is also Assistant Coach with the CBU Capers Women's 2024 AUS champions, said: "This is a team who didn't start playing at the Tier One NSSL level until they were second year U15s and they have had to learn quickly.
"Their development has been excellent and with big plans coming to enhance our Academy programs in 2025 we are excited to see how far they can go."
Over the last year the CAPERS Academy U17AAA Girls have had regular strength and conditioning sessions with CBU CAPERS expert Aubrey Landry as part of their structured training weeks.
Aubrey was delighted to see the players take three first places in testing and have those two other Top 5s against the leading players in the HRM and from across Nova Scotia.
He said: "They all did very well at the weekend and it's great to see their hard work is paying off."
Over the Winter Training Block, with so many multi-sport athletes in the Academy, CBFC operates a U17/U18 training group until the Christmas break. The club will then select the U17AAA squad for Season 2025 and make a decision on the viability of again also fielding a U18AA Girls team in the NSSL next summer.
Behind the scenes work is well underway to improve all of CBFC's Academy Team offerings next year, look out for exciting announcements on the site in the weeks to come.
* OUR picture shows U17AAA Girls centre-half and Team Nova Scotia defender Sophia Peach with her Player of the Match award at the FTF Showcase this weekend.
