Historically speaking, most local youth competitive soccer teams have struggled to retain numbers as their players near their later teens, when jobs and relationships and academics are all seemingly trying to squeeze their way into the mix with elite sports.

The GSSC (Greater Sudbury Soccer Club) Impact U16 Girls have bucked that trend.

After starting out with a relatively modest lineup a few years back and surviving one full summer where the team did not even have a league to play in, coach Doug Rosener and company have not only ascended into the Toronto Soccer League (TOSL), but remain in contention for top spot with four games remaining on their schedule.

Returning a very solid core of talent year after year, Rosener is adament about where the biggest step forward occurred in the summer of 2023.

"It's definitely our new found ability to possess and control the ball," he said. "For better or worse, we are not blessed with a Kiara Levac where you can put it up there and she can take care of the rest."

"We have to play more for possession through the midfield and connect passes and get our scoring opportunities that way. The fact that everybody has learned how to do that and be patient is the biggest success this year."

The team continues to be able to find just enough scoring to make it sure, recording a key 1-1 tie with Erin Mills (Kynlee Cresswell with the goal) and a 2-1 win over CTSA (Cresswell and Ava Massimiliano) on the last weekend of August.

Like so many Impact teams, the U16 crew will lose a handful during the off-season to their hockey pursuits with the Sudbury Lady Wolves, or perhaps a commitment to club volleyball or basketball, with Rosener more than willing to work with the remaining girls given the availability of the Lancer Soccer Dome during the winter.

"Our ability to play in an 11 v 11 (indoor) league in Toronto is probably not realistic," Rosener conceded. "It's about getting as many girls out as we can, maybe play in the Indoor (Ontario) Cup again and work on the technical part of the game."

With just a couple of summers remaining before his athletes move on to post-secondary ranks, Rosener is tickled pink with just how far this team has come.

"It was a team that wasn't blessed with a lot of raw soccer talent - but we've always been blessed with some very good athletes," he said. "The soccer specific talent hasn't always been there, which is what makes me most proud of these girls, developing into a team that can really play technically with the teams from down south."