AYSC player hits the international soccer stage

August 31, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

August 17, 2016 is a day that Olivia Scott can mark in her calendar forever.

It was that Wednesday afternoon that, in the 65th minute of a match against Curacao, the Aurora native notched her first goal for Team Canada.

Canada would go on to win the match, the quarterfinal round of the CONCACAF Under-15 Girl’s Championship, by a score of 10 – 0. The defending champions met Mexico in the semifinal two days later, besting them 3 – 1, setting a date with the home country USA in the final.

The United States, dominant the entire tournament, won the title 2 – 0. For Scott, her first international competition was the most intense competition she has ever faced.

OPDL (Ontario Player Development League) and provincial games have been challenging,” said Scott. “But I have never seen competition at the level of Mexico, Costa Rica, or the United States.”

The midfielder and her teammates cruised through their competitors in the group stage of the prestigious tournament in Orlando, besting Venezuela, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and El Salvador without allowing a goal against.

“The first four games and the quarter finals were straight forward, even though it was REALLY hot, we were well prepared and hydrated and we won all those games with no goals against,” said Scott. “As I said, both Mexico and the USA were tough competition. We were down 1-0 against Mexico in the semi-finals and came back with 3 goals to advance to the final.”

Canada’s one goal against was one more than the United States heading into the final.

“USA were physically fit and very fast. They forced us to play quicker with their high press and, while we had some chances, we just ran out of time.”

A silver medal performance is certainly nothing to scoff at for the 15-year old, who only joined the Canadian youth program in 2014. A member of the Aurora Youth Soccer Club since the age of six, Scott joined Brett Unger’s under-8 rep team a year later, and Unger remained her coach for five years.
It was then that she joined the Aurora OPDL team under coach Siamac Kavianpour, who she claimed “is the best coach in the OPDL”.

“The club has been amazing and supportive throughout.”

Despite now reaching international success, with more surely on the way, the teenager still says the best part of soccer is being with her friends.
“The best part of playing soccer in Aurora has been my teammates. They always push me to work hard, they are supportive and every one is a friend.”

Looking to the future, Scott hopes to play for a top university club as well as the Canadian Women’s national team.