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Welcome |
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 Welcome to the 3rd Annual Western Canada Soccer Showcase to be held at the beautiful Burnaby Lake West facility April 2, 3 and 4, 2010. The purpose of the Showcase, the biggest one of its kind in Western Canada, is to highlight the supreme amount of talent in this part of North America and provide as many opportunities as possible for the top high school players (girls in grades 9-12) in Western Canada to continue their soccer at the post high school level, as well as to understand the off field component of the recruiting process in order to ensure success. Our goal is to provide this opportunity in their own backyard as opposed to having to spend thousands of dollars to travel to other parts of the continent to do so.
Players who have hailed from this part of the continent that have made a large impact at the NCAA Level in the last few years include NCAA Players of the Year Katie Thorlakson (Vancouver, BC/Notre Dame) and Christine Sinclair (Vancouver, BC/Portland) as well as All-Americans Emily Zurrer (Vancouver Island/Illinois), Brittany Timko (Vancouver, BC/Nebraska), Sophie Schmidt (Vancouver, BC/Portland) and Erin McLeod (Calgary, AB/Penn State). Erin McNulty (Winnipeg, MB/Florida State) was recently listed as the top NCAA international recruit in 2007.
Additionally on the Canadian University and College circuit, Western Canadian teams with most of their players hailing from this region of Canada have continued to dominate, with Trinity Western University winning the CIS in 2008, and UBC and UVic also ranking extremely high on the National Arena. SFU in 2009 is currently ranked in the top 10 of the NAIA and Vancouver based Langara College made it a Western Canadian double, bringing home the Canadian College Championship in 2008. Players who attended last year had their good play at the event result directly in scholarships to US universities, and we look forward to providing a similar springboard for opportunity to both Canadian and US universities, for the girls, in the exciting event that we have planned for 2009.
The Showcase is invitation only and teams are selected based on their standings at the Provincial Tournament to ensure a competitive environment for all teams involved. In the last two years we were able to bring in top teams, including the top academy team from the UK, Bristol Academy to provide some international flavor to the event and are already fielding interest from teams in the UK, Sweden and Norway for the event in 2010.
Through girlsCAN Soccer who assists in organizing the event, the promotion of the importance of good personal values is highlighted. With this in mind, 2010 will be the second year that girlsCAN will be offering the Apps-Allen Scholarship, a bursary named after two inspirational recent retirees from the Canadian Women's National Team. Ashley Michelin from SWU 92 in Edmonton was our first ever recipient in 2009. We look forward to our biggest and best ever event this upcoming April, with an impressive list of schools and teams already committed!
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 The Super 32 pre-event was the first year that we chose to bring in a group of players a couple of days before the start of the Showcase to give them an opportunity to learn both on and off the field from a group of outstanding coaches.
Click Here To See the Super 32 Video |
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| THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU |
As we bring the 2010 event to a close we would like to say a massive thank you to all the team representatives that worked so hard to get their groups together for the event. You all were an absolute pleasure to work with and did an outstanding job of organizing your groups.
I would like to take this opportunity to extent a special thank you to our outstanding Tournament Organizing Committee. First and foremost Sari Raber who was the Showcase Host, and did an absolutely incredible job. Words do not describe what a special person Sari is and she set the standard in organization for future events. Again the Showcase would not have been possible without the efforts of Sharon Kordysz, Laura Williams, Ken Allin and new recruits Bruce Raber and Barry McCormack. The group showed a massive example of teamwork, and for this I am so grateful. You guys are special people.
Thank you also to Sanjeev Parmar, a fantastically talented young coach from Ottawa who did an outstanding job assisting to organize the Super 32, as well as Craig Smith for running the sessions. Thanks to Sanjeev as well for the video of the Super 32 and for coaching the girlsCAN Team. Thanks to TSS Academy for providing their facility and expertise in the pre-event and Brendan Quarry for his tireless efforts. Thank you to the Accent Inns and Trailside Physio for their professionalism and outstanding service to the event, and to Katie Thorlakson and Amy Vermeulen for coaching our girlsCAN teams and to Amy V for all her help in the lead up to the event.
A special thank you also to Dave Sattler for providing us with the venue for the seminars at North Shore Alliance and his mentorship, as well as Angelo Pulice for doing an outstanding job organizing the referees. Thank you to Amy Apps for sharing her inspiring story and the Drummond family for giving back to the Showcase with a scholarship. Thank you also again to Burnaby Parks for their professionalism and outstanding facility. Always a pleasure to work with you guys.
Seeing a group of passionate individuals work together to provide an opportunity like this for outstanding, hard-working and deserving players truly makes for a special weekend and I am so honoured to be a part of this group. Organizing the event is such an enjoyable experience working with so many outstanding, passionate, positive people, and for this I tip my hats to all of you.
Til next year,
Ciara McCormack
Western Canada Soccer Showcase Organizing Committee Chair |
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| JACLYN DRUMMOND SCHOLARSHIP WINNER: KELLY GOURLEY |
A massive congrats to Kelly Gourley for winning the $250 Jaclyn Drummond Scholarship. Jaclyn participated in the 2008 Showcase and her mom Ann-Marie credits the girlsCAN College Prep Seminar and Winning A US College Scholarship Book with playing a large role in Jaclyn winning a scholarship to NCAA Division 1 Maryland-Baltimore County Click on Jaclyn's College Profile Here.
Their family has committed a $250 scholarship to a promising, dedicated goalie that has attended a girlsCAN event throughout the year and who participates in the Showcase, that has similar drive and determination as Jaclyn did, for the 4 years that Jaclyn is in university. This year we chose Kelly Gourley from Edmonton Scottish 1993, who came to our Edmonton Seminar and impressed us with her drive to become a better keeper and learn more about the college process. Congratulations to Kelly and a massive thank you to the Drummond Family for giving back! |
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| BC SOCCER WEB ARTICLE: FROM SHOWCASE FOUNDER CIARA MCCORMACK |
| Western Canada Soccer Showcase Founder Ciara McCormack recently wrote an informative article posted on the BC Soccer Web Website about her experience organizing the Showcase: Click Here To Read |
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| APPS-ALLEN SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS: SHEENA TRACEY (SCOTTISH EDMONTON 94) AND JOSELINE PARRA-RAZEULE (VICTORIA 94) |
| The Saturday night of the Showcase featured recently retired National Team Amy Apps who shared her very inspirational journey to the top level of soccer in Canada (See more about Amy in a recent story in the Vancouver Province: Click Here To Read) We are very proud to announce 2 players in the Showcase who were nominated by their teams to possess qualities similar to Amy, that were chosen to split the annual $1000 Apps-Allen Scholarship: from the Scottish Edmonton 1994 Team, Sheena Tracey and from the 1994 Victoria Capitals, Joseline Parra-Razeule. A warm congratulations to both girls for being chosen for the Apps-Allen Scholarship. |
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| FINAL LIST OF 2010 ATTENDING SCHOOLS POSTED |
| The final list of schools that were at the Showcase are now up under "Colleges Attending". A sincere thank you to all the colleges and universities from all over North America who made their way up to Vancouver for the event. |
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| Teams and Universities Attending Update |
| Please see the updated information, including the Showcase Schedule, Attending Teams and the tentative list of attending Colleges and Universities for the 2010 Event. |
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| Registration Information for the 2010 Showcase College Prep Seminars have now been posted. Click Read More for information on how to register! |
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| I would personally like to thank the following members of the Western Canada Soccer Showcase Organizing Committee, who, without their efforts, the incredible success of the 2009 Showcase would not have been possible. They include, Elaine Sun, Ken Allin, Sharon Kordysz, Laura Williams, Donna Giraud, and Amelie Mercier. In addition, I would also like to extend a special thank you to Southridge School, as well as Dave Sattler, Shawn Fiddick, Amber Allen, Amy Apps, Sian Bagshawe, Amy Vermeulen, Donn Sparks and Ashley McGhee for giving their time to make a positive impact on the girls who attended the Showcase. To the coaches/managers who organized their teams, as well as the Canadian and US Schools who came to Vancouver, it was fantastic to have you all. Finally to our sponsors (see below), a hearty thank you as well for playing a role in helping fulfill the ambitions of the very talented girls who were in attendance. We are already looking forward to 2010!
Sincerely, Ciara McCormack, Western Canada Soccer Showcase, Founder. |
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A big 'thank you' to our 2009 Showcase Sponsors!
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