Last winter, a handful of Oakville Soccer Club players participated in a selection camp for the initial intake of Canada Soccer National Development Centre (NDC), a brand new training program for elite-level female soccer players.
The competition was fierce last year. Only the best of the best were invited to train full-time with Head Coach Joey Lombardi.
Among those players was Adriana Banchin, an attack-minded midfielder who, at the time, felt that her “work ethic and intensity” allowed her to lead by example.
“Going to that tryout was a really good experience because I learned a lot in that week," and “it showed me that I want to be training where people are going to challenge me and are going to make me better,” stated Adriana.
However, things did not go as well as desired following the initial week-long trial. “I didn’t really get any feedback or information, so I just assumed like I didn’t make it,” the 15-year-old laments.
Things have a funny way of working out for people with the right attitude, and that aforementioned “work ethic and intensity” kept her on Lombardi’s radar.
A change of positions led to a breakthrough for the Blakelock student. “I got switched halfway through my season to striker, and then I started to really excel. I was scoring goals; I was making plays.”
And then she got the call from Coach Lombardi, “I was very excited; at first, I was in shock!” she beams.
While she knows nothing will come easy for her in this program, she looks forward to the challenge. “This training is definitely going to push me to be my best, and even when I was doing my tryouts, every day, I would come out with a smile on my face because I just knew that’s where I wanted to be.”
Adriana will benefit from being around a familiar face, as former Oakville Soccer Club Goalkeeper Madison London has been with the team since last year. “She’s super excited that I’m coming, and I’m super excited that I have at least one person I know.”
She looks up to Canadian national team greats like Jesse Flemming and Christine Sinclair, and this talented young player is on the right track, at the very least, envision the path to their level. Adriana is excited about the prospect of making the Canadian women’s professional league and having that sort of competition at home, which is something those great players were never able to imagine.
For now, it's one step at a time for the Oakville native.
Adriana has already joined the NDC squad, training three times a week. She will be there full-time starting on Jan. 31, once the new high school semester begins, and she is fully registered at Bill Crothers Secondary School in Markham with the rest of her teammates.