The Division 2 Under-11 girls' team at Mission Soccer Club has earned its stripes.
The team was recently recognized and sponsored by Adidas Canada with donated training bags.
Coach Courtney Emerson reached out to higher-ups at Adidas about potential support due to the team’s fit with Adidas’s diversity, equity and inclusion mission.
“I just let them know about our team and how good the girls have been playing this year,” Emerson said. “They've been working really hard, working well together as a team. It's a team of strong, kind young ladies that support each other,” Emerson said.
Emerson says girls can be a bit underrepresented in sports. It’s the first time Mission has had a girls’ divisional (rep) team in the under-11 age group and the team is playing at a high level.
“Last season, we had one team at this age group and have for the last few seasons, whereas the boys have multiple teams in each age group. But over the last couple of years, Mission Soccer Club has grown and they've seen some players coming back that previously left so we had enough players this year to be able to form a divisional team,” Emerson said.
The team is off to an undefeated start to the season. According to Emerson, the girls are working hard to prove they deserve their spot in the league.
In addition to the training bags provided by Adidas, the team also fundraised for Adidas tracksuits.
