What the Canadian women’s soccer team has done in the past week or so is nothing short of remarkable.

After seeing their head coach and an assistant jettisoned from the Paris Olympics and dealing with the ensuing media circus that was created due to the drone controversy, the ladies in red somehow found a way to overcome a six point deficit and focus their combined attention to eking out the three straight wins necessary to ensure a berth in the quarter-finals Saturday versus Germany.

To top it all off, Sudbury native Cloe Lacasse has been right in the mix in terms of timely contributors, netting her first Olympic goal in her first Olympic game appearance.

Talk about a motivator for young female soccer talent in the nickel city.

Thirteen year-old Alice Hallows is enjoying her first crack at a larger provincial scope of competition, part of the GSSC (Greater Sudbury Soccer Club) U13 Impact girls team that is tackling a TOSL (Toronto Soccer League) schedule for the first time this year.

With a record of 4-3-1 to date, the locals are poised to take a run at a top-two divisional finish, setting themselves up nicely for a crack at iModel competition come the summer of 2025.

“The TOSL is good,” said Hallows, joined on the team by her younger sister, Scarlett. “We win some games and lose some games. It’s not like we’re always winning or always losing games.”

With scores to date of 3-1, 3-1, 4-2, 1-1, 1-0, 2-1, 2-1 and 2-1, it’s clear that pretty much every game is up for grabs – an ideal setting for players development. Interestingly enough, with this particular Sudbury collection of talent, keeping the ball out of their own net appears to rank at the very top of the list of player priorities – which is not always the case in youth soccer.

“We have lots of defensive players,” said Hallows, she herself a defensive (or central) midfielder. “We have lots of players who enjoy playing defense more than offense – and we play with six defenders and four on offense.”

When it comes to the attack, head coach Stephane Marier looks to the likes of Alexa Boissonneault (4 goals), Jessie Fu (3) and Alayna Marier-Mikus (3) to hit the mark, with Hallows (one goal) still getting a feel for when she needs to jump into the offense.

“It depends on whether the other defensive midfielder is going up or not,” suggested the Sudburnia Soccer product who is now in her third year with the rep team. “If she is going up, I may stay back a little bit – it depends.”

“If it’s a corner (kick), we all go up.”

Enjoying the long weekend off, the U13 Impact girls will be in Toronto to face THPFC (Toronto High Park FC) on August 17th before hosting Markham in double-header action at James Jerome on August 25th. In the meantime, Hallows continues the search for enhancement of her soccer skills.

“I want to get better at moving with the ball,” she said. “Most of the time, when I get the ball, I usually just pass it quickly. I don’t dribble. I get a little bit nervous with the ball. That’s what I want to work on.”

Rounding out the 2024 Impact U13 girls soccer team are Martina Puerta Cueva, Isabella Fraser, Lynn Nzotungwanimana, Emma-Leigha Morin, Braya Kelly, Zoey Brazier, Violet Boisvenue, Callie Couillard, Julia D’Angelo, Alice Simpson, Veronica Paquette and Taya Messier.

Lia Gallo may or may not pursue soccer beyond her high-school years – such is her proficiency in an ever-widening array of other athletic interests. Golf and volleyball have notably been applying pressure on the soon-to-be Lo-Ellen Park freshman who has been a mainstay with the U15 Impact girls team – and whose family name is synonymous with the Beautiful Game in Sudbury.

“Right now, it’s kind of challenging because sports are becoming year-round,” said Gallo. “Hockey starts next week (Gallo is a member of the U15 AA Lady Wolves team) and soccer goes to September or October. They overlap, which makes it tougher.”

“And I really want to play high-school sports because you make so many friends playing – but it’s going to be tough to balance.”

If Hallows and the U13 girls have settled into a solid level of competition, the same cannot be said for the Impact U15 girls who fell just short of advancing up following iModel qualifying action (despite their protests to the contrary) and now are being challenged to even schedule their remaining games against a lower level of opponents.

All in all, it’s an environment that has forced Gallo and her teammates to look inwards in terms of skill development options. “I wanted to work on certain things on my own, as a player, working at home on certain things,” she said. “Practices are for the team game, but for myself, I like to practice individually to help out my team too.”

“Me and my friend Mia will often do little things on our own, passing plays, trying to work out little tricks together, improving each other.”

Also sliding into iModel C2 play for the second half of the summer, the Impact U14 boys are looking to make the most of their experience, racking up three wins and a tie to surge to the top of the standings to date. The team scored a whopping 16 goals in their four games in July, with Angelo Kalonji and Samuel Lazare at five strikes each and Xander Millett chipping in with three.

The team also recorded a pair of wins in Ontario Cup action earlier this summer (4-3 over East York FC; 4-3 over DCFC Academy Scarborough) before being eliminated in mid-July, dropping a 3-1 decision to York Jets Atletico.

The remaining Impact U14 boys roster features Brendan Goffin, Alexandre Ben-Anteur, Quentin Hallock, Devun Panella, Waylan Croome, Nathan Estriplet, Domadius Aziz, Iliyas Sambo, Fengning Ye, Logan Anderson, Rhys Johnson-Calixte, Jedidia Elijbje, Sebastian Gonzales, Papa Kwabena Amofa-Badu and Diego Larios.

Finally, the SRCSL (Sudbury Regional Competitive Soccer League) will be celebrating one hundred years of soccer in Sudbury on Saturday August 17th at the Caruso Club. With guest speaker Sebastian Giovinco on hand, the evening will include a dinner and dance, silent auction and plenty of tall tales to be told, undoubtedly.

Tickets are priced at $110 each and can be obtained by emailing srcslgala2024@gmail.com