Foothills trio strikes soccer gold at Alberta Summer Games

Following the ABCs added up to a golden finish on the pitch for a Big Country trio.

Taking in the message from the coaching staff of ability, belong and confidence, Zone 2 triumphed to win gold in girls soccer at the 2023 Alberta Summer Games at Okotoks’ Bill Robertson Park on July 23 with a trio of Foothills athletes playing a starring role.

“I think our team really had that,” said DeWinton’s Stella Chirzynski, a midfielder on the team . “Especially playing Calgary, which was a really big challenge for us, we came out with lots of confidence and knowing we could win it and we did.

“We played really well together.”

Big Country went undefeated and allowed just one goal over the three-day competition, knocking off Peace Country and Sunny South in convincing fashion before shutting out a tough Calgary squad 2-0.

In the gold medal final, Big Country blanked Yellowhead’s Zone 5 by a 2-0 score.

“We were nervous, but we knew we had it,” said left-back Myla St-Pierre, from Priddis. “We played one of the toughest teams already and just as a team, we had to have that confidence that if we played as a team, stayed as a team and believed as a team, we were there.”

Centre-back Brooklyn Goulard, from Okotoks, said the defensive efforts came down to communication and working together.

An impressive feat given the squad represented nine communities in the sprawling Big Country zone.

“It was just all of us wanting to be a team to win a gold and we just all clicked,” St-Pierre added.

Locally, the three Foothills players all play on different club teams.

“We’ve all known each other for a while and just never really talked,” Goulard said. “Being able to play with all these different girls from all over Alberta really helped show us what the competition is like.”

Chirzynski said most of the players know one another through different connections in club soccer before getting through the tryout and team building process.

Experiencing the Summer Games in their home communities was a thrill across the board, the players added.

“The games were super fun,” Chirzynski said. “But even in between, being able to take buses wherever we wanted and it being so local it was such a fun experience, being around so many athletes and meeting tons of new people was awesome.”