WEYBURN – A Weyburn U13 soccer player, Gabriella Friesen, spent part of her vacation last summer taking in a soccer camp while in Toronto, and ended up with an invitation to play in an international tournament in Spain this spring.
The camp had guest coaches from Madrid, Spain, and they covered many techniques and skills for playing the game.
At the end of the evaluations of the players at camp, she was invited to be a part of Team Canada for the World Cup in Madrid, to be held on March 20-29, 2024, with the competition to take place on March 25-28.
This was a surprise to her, as she wasn’t even expecting to be playing at the camp when her family went out to Toronto for their vacation time.
“We’ll have 11 training sessions before the actual competition, and a team bonding time, along with a tour of Madrid and the stadium we’ll be playing in,” said Gabriella.
She will need to raise funds for the trip, including the cost of the flight and her accommodations, so she and her family are making plans for fundraisers to help her out.
A current fundraiser is selling Cheesecake in a Jar, with Creative Eats Cheesecakes, at a cost of $10 per jar, a portion of which will go to help Gabriella. Those interested can go on her Facebook page, Gabriella’s Spain Journey, or go to the General Store/Big Jim’s downtown, where the jars are for sale.
To help her out, the Weyburn Soccer Association is sponsoring her for $1,000, plus the Weyburn Oilwomen have given her a $500 grant.
The tournament will have 40 teams from 15 countries, with over 500 soccer players to take part in the competition.
She noted she is very thankful to her soccer coaches for helping her develop her skills, particularly Tyler Hillstead, and Brennan Roy, who helped her develop as a goalie.
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