Two Saskatoon Soccer Players Set to Play Footy Across the Pond

Two Saskatoon Soccer Players Set to
Play Footy Across the Pond
 
February 4, 2016
 
REGINA, SK – As a new high school semester begins, two of Saskatchewan’s youth female high-performance soccer players are packing up their cleats and books, set to begin playing with the Swansea City Ladies soccer program in Swansea, Wales.  Seniors with the SSA High-Performance Development Centre based in Saskatoon, Jacqueline Altrogge and Taylor Bubnick have officially been transferred overseas and will spend the next three months training and competing for the Swansea City Football Club.
 
“Soccer is what I love to do. I never imagined this could happen, that I would be heading to Europe to play soccer,” said Bubnick, a seventeen-year old midfielder. In July 2015, the girls were part of a threesome of players who spent a week training with the Swansea based team, which competes in the Women’s Welsh Premier League and South Wales Ladies Football League.  Jacqueline and Taylor travelled a second time in October where they spent two weeks on a second trial with the Club.
 
For these young players, the opportunity to train with the adult team was both memorable and rewarding. “The first time it was a big shock. The play is much faster and you always have to be looking over your shoulder and always know what is coming next”, commented Bubnick about the experience on field. Altrogge added, “I just had to put my fear to the side or else that would have affected me, and I just needed play my game. It is a culture over there. It is almost like a religion. They respect the game so much.”  
 
What has grown from their initial exposure was the opportunity for these players, and hopefully more in the future, to work with the Wales-based team on a regular basis, all the while, working with their teachers back home to continue their education online.  Head Swansea Ladies Coach Ian Owen adds “the Swansea Football Club Ladies Team is very pleased to welcome Jacqueline and Taylor into our squad full time.  They are very professional on and off the pitch, and with the training they receive in their High-Performance program back home, they have immediately meshed with both our First Team and Reserve squad.”
 
Both players got their start locally in Saskatoon, with Taylor starting with the Aurora Soccer Club and Jacqueline a member of both the Hollandia Soccer Club, and the ASTRA Academy.  With Taylor transitioning full-time to the HPDC program in the fall of 2012 and Jacqueline six months later, these two athletes continued honing their skills over a five year period in preparation for this next step.  With this next step, Stream Manager Coach Terrol Russell’s vision of SSA High-Performance continues to come to full fruition.
 
The High Performance Development Centre began in 2012 under the guidance of Coach Terrol Russell. Having evolved from the long-standing Regional Training Centre Model, high-performance programming is now year-round.  With the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Model and Coach Russell’s developmental framework, termed ‘Mistake-Based (Neural) Learning’, consistently driving the program forward, athletes like Jacqueline and Taylor have received holistic training.  It has now transitioned these two athletes into the Training to Win Stage of LTAD.  “Jacqueline and Taylor are two examples of athletes that maintained process goals, focused on the long term, and stayed disciplined during times of struggle.  All of the hours of training, the science, the support by the staff and their parents, and most importantly through their own self-ignition, they have been integral in the creation of a culture of excellence and are blazing a path for the next generation to follow,” said Russell.
 
Coach Russell further explains that “the responsibility of the amateur High-Performance Coach is to design and drive a purposeful and deliberate training environment.  Working with athletes five to six days per week for 10 months of the year takes an emotional commitment to relentlessly motivate and drive each one to be their best.  Jacqueline and Taylor valued the constant challenge and I am confident they now have the high-performance mindset to deal with any task or barrier,” he added.
 
With the Stream-based model in 2011 and the High-Performance Stream shortly thereafter, a long term vision that is directed by a High-Performance Strategic Plan is working to build a development network throughout the province.  SSA Director of Operations, Dave Nutt explained that, “the High-Performance Stream is working to build a province-wide development network alongside unique and targeted opportunities for athletes within the Competitive and Recreational Streams.  In line with Canada Soccer’s Pathway and the Canadian Sport Policy 2012-2022, the first phase of implementation of the High-Performance Stream is scheduled to be complete by September 1, 2016. Work will be continuing through the second phase for September 1, 2021.  With Centres of Excellence, High-Performance Leagues and coach development, specialized training for goalkeepers, and Canada Soccer Regional Excel (REX) status on the horizon, a clear pathway to higher levels of participation is being put in place for Saskatchewan’s participants.”
 
Recently Altrogge had the opportunity to work with Saskatchewan’s own Kaylyn Kyle at Kyle’s own youth training camp and “really learned a lot from her and really look up to her.” With role models like Kyle and influences within her own family, it is no wonder this player has her sights set on the highest level of soccer she can attain in her playing career.  “Soccer has changed my life.”
 
For more details about the High Performance Development Centre, visit the SSA Website.

To learn more about the Swansea City Ladies FC, click here.