Saipan Tribune: Youth is Future of Team

Sports

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Youth seen as future of women's soccer

For the CNMI Women's National Football Team, it's hard to believe that just a few days remain until the 2nd Annual Marianas Cup. The women came together as a national team during a tryout session in early November, and they have spent long hours training hard and building team cohesion since then.

One of them most exciting things to happen to the team this year is the addition of several young players.

Marianas High School students Elisa Fejeran, Mariana Gramlich, and Rima Halaby, Saipan International School students Zoe Jewell and Madison Smith, and Grace Christian Academy student Ashley Hofschneider have brought great potential, talent, and energy to the team this year.

Fourteen-year-old Jewell is the only student who was also on the women's team last year. All of the other girls have gotten involved in playing soccer through participation in the recreational women's league.

Veteran national team members saw the potential of these talented young girls and invited them to try out for the national team.

Patty Coleman, a veteran national team player, feels that having these young girls on the team have helped to add a new dimension to the team. “As skilled as [the young girls] are now, if they continue with the team, in just a few years, they will be able to take the team to a higher level.”

During practice, the energy and youthful enthusiasm these girls exude is contagious.

Women's committee director Francine Sablan looks to the young girls for motivation during practice.

“During a long, hard practice, I see the high school girls working just as hard as I am, but I see them smiling and enjoying themselves. They remind that I'm playing this sport because it's fun.”

Even though the girls bring a youthful spark to the team, when it gets down to business on the pitch, their maturity trumps their youth. National team member, Meaghan Hassel-Shearer is impressed with how this happens. “Sometimes I forget that they're still in school, and I treat them like I treat my close friends who are my age.”

The young girls look up to the veteran players for inspiration. Fifteen-year-old Smith really enjoys playing on the team. “The older players are always willing to help and teach us. It makes it easier to learn the game.”

Smith plans to tryout for the team again next year, and that makes the women's team excited. Coleman believes “The young girls will soon help to make the women's national team more competitive at an international level.”

The CNMI Women's National Football Team takes on Guam at the Oleai field this Saturday, April 26, 3pm.

Other members of the CNMI Women's National Team include co-captains Emily Gries and Brenda Schultz, Nikki Gabaldon, Becca Newman, Lindsay Davis, Katie Peters, Connie Camacho, Natalie Hill, Jenny Linden, Amanda Allen, and Lyndsey Sosovec. (NMIFA)