Wolves come home with gold
The St. Catharines Club Roma Wolves 2008 U16 girls squad came together on and off the field to capture the championship in their division at the largest youth soccer tournament in North America.
The Wolves, who play in the Niagara Regional Soccer Program, won six straight games at the Target USA CUP which featured 1,200 teams from all over the world playing games at the National Sports Center 860-acre campus in Blaine, Minn.
The Wolves earned wins over the Minnesota State champions, Texas champions and Alaskan champions before topping the Utah State champions 3-2 in the final.
“It was incredible,” head coach Walter Camelino said. “Not only the competition, but the passion and the emotion of not only the players, but the fans watching made it an extremely unique experience for sure.”
Roma co-captain Mackenzie Munro-Flora said it was an experience the team will never forget.
“We obviously knew there were a lot of teams there and the opening ceremonies, walking out and seeing all the parents and fans there was crazy to see,” she said. “It was really cool.”
Defender Ashlyn Armstrong loved the pomp and circumstance of the opening ceremonies.
“It was amazing. I remember when we were out for the ceremony and seeing all the different players and countries. They had 58 fields. I’ve never seen anything like that. There were so many people there. It’s insane.”
Once the games began, Camelino quickly figured out the Wolves wouldn’t have to take a back seat to any of the competition.
“As soon as the first game was underway I had a good feeling we would be able to compete. I was pretty confident we would be able to compete,” he said.
Teams played one game a day for six straight days, which meant sticking to a routine was essential.
“It was a lot different from what we’re used to,” Camelino said. “We really learned a lot about ourselves. You really have to be disciplined as players and take therapy after each game — ice baths or massages or whatever it took to recover.
“It was nice to instil that discipline.”
Camelino set a curfew each night and had no issues.
“That really was the most exciting part of it. You watch them grow as players and they held each other accountable to make sure they were in by curfew and make sure they were using the ice baths and massage guns and therapy pools. It was really good watching them grow together as a group.
“We had 16 families that were all on the same page. Everyone held everyone accountable and put soccer first. Small things like that make a huge difference.”
Games were live streamed and accessible to college recruiters.
“A couple of universities talked to myself and some of the players and parents. That’s the whole point of going,” Camelino said.
Camelino feels the experience will benefit the players going forward.
“I think it will be huge. They learned a lot about themselves in that week. Even in the final, we came back from behind in the last minute. That’s growth. I’m very proud of them,” he said.
The Wolves will be doing more travelling next year, having earned an automatic bye to the Norway Cup next July for winning their division. The team is also planning a trip to Italy next May.
Following is the team roster.
3: Chloe McNeil
4: Ava Rose
5: Bronwyn Hunter
7: Zeynep Coskan Johnson
8: Sophia Verrelli
9: Reese Rotella
10: Mackenzie Munro-Flora
11: Ashlyn Armstrong
13: Kella Montgomery
14: Vanessa Dube
16: Brooke Stevens
19: Mackenzie Kikkert
21: Kaylee Peterson
29: Sophie Solodiuk
31: Alexa Beaulieu
41: Thalia Camelino
93: Daphne Gray
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