High school girls soccer is back after a two-year hiatus and the South Delta Sun Devils are looking to pick up right where they left off.
Led by longtime coaches Stephen Burns and Brent Sweeney, the senior girls soccer team is taking aim at a record-extending 19th consecutive appearance at the B.C. AAA Championships, slated for June 2 to 4 in Surrey.
Getting senior teams up-and-running again after a 24-month COVID pause is no easy feat, from losing two graduated classes to ensuring volunteer coaches are in place.
That’s no problem at SDSS where Burns and Sweeney are members of the teaching staff and have poured years of their own time into a program the student-athletes simply want to be a part of.
Before even playing their first league game on Monday, a 6-1 win over the Delta Pacers, South Delta had already participated in a couple of tournaments.
“We have had no problem with the numbers. (The lost seasons) were a concern, but I think the girls in general, especially the Grade 12s, have managed to get the rest of them up (for playing again),” said Burns who started coaching SDSS boys and girls soccer teams when he began his teaching career at nearby South Park Elementary School. “We have had all our best players come out for sure.”
That includes four Grade 12s: Teila Noble, twins Jane and Kate McDonald, along with Brianna Jassman who is continuing her career at the University of Calgary next fall. All were on the field when the Sun Devils finished fifth at the 2019 provincials, as were Grade 11s Rachel Rosser and Julia Fechter.
The influx of new talent includes a number of players currently playing at the B.C. Premier Soccer League (HPL) in club play. There is also plenty of multi-sport athletes who thrived earlier in the school year on the volleyball and basketball courts, including Rosser, the McDonald twins and Mackenzie Campbell who all had leading roles in South Delta finishing second at the B.C. AAAA Volleyball Championships.
It all adds up to a promising mix that produced a pair of runner-up finishes in those pre-season tournaments, including a 3-2 championship game loss to Coquitlam’s Centennial Centaurs last weekend.
“Centennial is the team to beat. Every one of their players play at the highest level including nine of them on the same U17 HPL team,” continued Burns. “They’re at a different level right now, I think, attack wise, but our girls are moving the ball around really well. We played four games last week and we’re keeping a lot of possession and scoring some goals too.”
South Delta’s toughest encounter in league play should come on April 25 when Elgin Park visits Winskill Park at 3:30 p.m. The Sun Devils fell to the South Surrey school in penalty kicks in the final of their other pre-season tourney.
