U20 Women Pack In Camp

Canada closes first women’s U-20 camp of the 2008 season

Canada’s women’s U-20 team head coach Bob Birarda was happy with the first training camp of the 2008 season. The camp helped Birarda identify players and their strengths as well as establish the building blocks for the team’s run to the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship and FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2008. The one-week camp concluded Sunday 3 February with a Canada vs. Canada scrimmage against the women’s senior team.

“There were some top level performaces. Despite some really challenging conditions (snow and facitilty), we were all very excited about the commitment we have all made to each other.”

Bob Barada coach, Canada U20 Women

The team gathered in Vancouver, BC on 27 January and ran training sessions, often two per day, throughout the week. After several scrimmages against local boys teams, the U-20 women played a Saturday exhibition match on 2 February against the University of British Columbia. The game ended in a 1:1 draw.

“The game against UBC was used to set some new tactical priorities for players and refocus our playing style,” says Birarda. “UBC was a very motivated, hard-working, disciplined team. After scoring very early, UBC had the desire to keep going throughout the match – they performed very well. Canada changed a lot of players throughout the game, looking to find players strengths. To our players’ credit, we kept on creating goal chances throughout the match, hitting posts and one crossbar. Nearing the end of the game, we were getting stronger and stronger and could have had a couple more, but managed to get a result and add to the things we can learn from.”

The following morning, the Canadian U-20 women’s team played the Canadian senior team in a closed scrimmage. The senior team won, but the younger team showed promise. Both the women’s senior and U-20 teams have Winners as their title sponsor.

“The scrimmage against the World Cup team was such a thrill for the players,” says Birarda. “These very tired girls made improvements in every area. They played well, built attacks, penetrated, defended together. They created goal chances and caused stress for the World Cup team’s back four. It was great to see us adapt to the speed of the game and the quality of international players. This was almost like having an international game for these young players.”

Canada’s women’s U-20 team is now waiting for the dates and location of the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship.