Mathew McCarthy, Record staff Kitchener Soccer Club player Leticia Skeete is participating in a development camp in Sunrise, Fla., for Canada's national under-15 team.
Kitchener soccer player leaps to challenge of competing at highest level
August 11, 2010
As you are reading this, Kitchener Soccer Club under-15 player Leticia Skeete is training in sunny, hot Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a group of Canada’s best 14 and 15 year-old soccer players. It is a critical age for kids who hope to make the leap from club youth player to national-level athlete and playing for Canada internationally.
Skeete, a 14-year-old Grand River Collegiate student set to enter grade 10 this fall, is what might be termed a diamond in the rough. She has not been part of the Ontario Soccer Association’s programs in any significant way, which, generally speaking, would have been the first step to making it to Canada’s national teams.
“I’ve never tried out for provincials, or anything. This the first time playing anything higher than club soccer and I’m really excited,” she says.
The Florida venue has the facilities, competition, and stifling heat that players need to acclimate to when playing matches in many countries in CONCACAF. The camp is designed to create a training environment where nothing is new to them while preparing for key international matches, according to head coach David Benning of Toronto.
“The purpose of the camp is to educate the players to the level of training, competition, coaching and the overall camp environment at the national team level.”
That environment is vital to preparing players for international tournaments at the under-15 and under-17 age groups and as they begin to compete for positions on the national women’s team over the next few years.
Today, the 24-player squad is recovering from Tuesday’s evaluation game and an afternoon of practice and reviewing the principles of team shape as it prepares for Thursday’s session.
“We’re looking for players who can consistently compete at the highest level over a three-game period,” Benning says, referring to the three-game international qualifying period.
Skeete is hoping to do just that, and she’s relying on her experience with local coaching and club soccer. She started playing soccer with the Kitchener Soccer Club when she was eight and moved to Waterloo Minor Soccer for a year before returning to the Kitchener club when she was 14.
As for how she finds herself playing at the Canadian national level, she can only shrug her shoulders and conclude that she was scouted while playing against some of the best teams in the Ontario Youth Soccer League, a pan-Ontario circuit for boys and girls aged 14 to 19.
“It was a big surprise to me,” says Skeete. “My coach (Kitchener Soccer under-15 coach Fritz Bratan) called me and said the national team had called him. I didn’t go through the regional or provincial program (steps toward Canadian soccer’s national training centre program), so I didn’t think it could happen.”
Benning says that through the combined efforts of many Canadian men’s and women’s national staff coaches, training centre directors and provincial technical directors, 180 players across the country were scouted over the past two years.
Skeete describes herself as an aggressive player, who is tall, quick and likes to get to the ball first and with tenacity.
“I think I have a good ability to think quickly, but I need to work on my touches on the ball and keeping possession,” she says.
Those are skills she was working on diligently before leaving for Florida. All Canadian national female soccer players have focused on improving in that area of late. After former coach Even Pellerud’s tenure of thumping long-ball soccer, the Canadian women are now coached by Italian Carolina Morace, who is converting their game to more technical and composed short-ball soccer, passing the ball on the ground.
But the long and short of it is that Skeete’s invitation caught her by surprise and caused some a bit of stress, though she sees that as part of the fun in the opportunity presented by the Florida camp.
“I’m really excited,” she says. “I was struggling to get everything together and with only a few days. There was a lot to do in a short space of time.”
http://news.therecord.com/Sports/article/758752
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