NDSS senior girls earn AAA provincial soccer crown

High school soccer has a short season beginning just after spring break.

Nanaimo only played a couple of times against both Dover Bay and Cowichan Secondary.

“We had three tryouts, and a lot of players came out,” McKenzie said. “I ended up taking twenty players. We relied on that depth. Every player was so important to our run.”

At provincials, the teams were put into groups of four, and NDSS started to roll.

“We won our group with two wins and a draw, which we won in penalties. We played Kitsilano in the semi-final and played Argyle in the final and ended up with a 2-1 win.”

McKenzie said he felt there was something special about the group early on in the season, but he didn’t have any expectations going into the provincial tournament.

“We were missing a lot of players going into that tournament. Our goal was to make the BC championship, and we got the team healthy and went to Kamloops and took it game by game. We didn’t have any knowledge of our opponents. It ended up working out in the end, and it’s been a really cool feeling. We’re still wrapping our heads around what we accomplished.”

NDSS has a soccer academy, and McKenzie works with some of the athletes through the program.

Many of the players also have a history together going back many years, which allowed the team to bond quickly.

“The big commitment for a lot of these players is their club teams. A lot of them play together during the year. Many of them have played together for years, some of them since kindergarten. So they have a long-standing relationship with each other.”

The bulk of the team will be eligible to return next season with only three graduating Grade 12s.

One of those graduating players is Violet Johnston, who has committed to play at VIU next season.

McKenzie said many of the other girls on the team will have options to play soccer at the next level down the road as well.

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by Dan Marshall

NDSS senior girls earn AAA provincial soccer crown

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