Cowichan Valley Soccer Association player Lizzy Jehn was selected to and played for the NIKE Elite XI Canada soccer team recently at a high-ranking NCAA U.S. college showcase tournament in Raleigh, NC.
The Duncan Christian School student and her team made up of players from B.C., Ontario, California, Oregon and Alabama, competed against some of the top teams in the U.S. at the event, a true feat given they hadn't known each other until the tournament.
“I was very excited about joining the team with girls from all over Canada and the U.S.," Jehn explained. "We all met at the hotel the night before the first game. Most of the girls had not met before and were playing together as a team for the first time. This was very challenging as we had to work as a team right away — on and off the field."
What made the event even more special for the ninth-grader is that Chargers head girls soccer coach, Thor Jehn, Lizzy's dad, was asked to coach the team for the tournament.
NCAA showcase tournaments are held for college and university coaches and scouts to assess the best players in each age group in North America.
Thor Jehn said the tournament demands discipline, focus, and a certain kind of professionalism given its size and the fact that the players are unknown to each other.
What's more, the Elite XI competed in the highest category of their age bracket, U15 girls, and played the North Carolina Courage, Fairfax Virginia, and Florida West FC. All three are the top teams of their states.
"We lost all three games, but that did not matter at all. It was a huge experience for the girls to play on a Canada and U.S. nationwide select team at this level and at one of the biggest tournaments in the U.S.," Thor Jehn said. "They will certainly remember this for a long time, and they will be prepared to play on that level in the future."
