VANCOUVER, BC – For the first time since they hosted the tournament in 2014, Canada’s U20 Women’sNational Team will play at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup. In preparation, Canada Soccer has invited 30 players to a Toronto training camp to determine which 21 get on the flight to the Costa Rican-hosted tournament.
Led by Dalhousie Tigers head coach Cindy Tye, two U SPORTS players and two from League 1 BC will vie for spots on the team. Dalhousie’s Megan Chiasson gets a call to the training camp, as does uOttawa’s Sadie Sider-Echenberg. Meanwhile, League 1 BC players Mia Pante and Holly Ward will look to secure their spot for the young Reds.
While two U SPORTS players trail the three seen on the final roster for the 2014 tournament, it still shows the attention that Tye, of course, and her coaching staff keep on U SPORTS athletes. While many U SPORTS players have not established themselves as prominent by 19, the few who do tend to get noticed.
The 2014 tournament saw York’s Mika Richard, Concordia’s Sarah Feola and UQAM’s Anyssa Ibrahim called up to the Canadian squad. Unfortunately, Canada failed to make it past the group stage.
Sadie Sider-Echenberg is coming off her first season with the uOttawa Gee-Gees, in a campaign where the Gee-Gees fell out of OUA title contention in the semifinal against the eventual champion Queen’s Gaels.
Sider-Echenberg started ten games as a freshman, scoring twice and chipping in with four assists while providing a calming yet attacking presence in the midfield alongside OUA player of the year Emma Lefebvre.
While her goals came against weaker sides in Ontario Tech and Carleton and the assists in a 12-0 rout of the RMC Paladins, Sider-Echenberg made her presence known throughout the season, catching Tye’s eye for this summer’s camp.
After her successful OUA campaign, the teenager earned a nod to the OUA East All-Star team, but more notably, a call to Racing Lousiville’s NWSL training camp ahead of the 2022 American pro season. She also joined Holland’s PSV for a trial in May.
Joining the Gee-Gees standout at the Canadian camp will be Megan Chiasson of Dalhousie, who thrived in her rookie season in 2021, despite not playing with the conference’s strongest team.
Chiasson scored 1 goal in 12 appearances and 11 starts with Tye’s Tigers, en route to being named the 2021 AUS Rookie of the Year and earning a nod to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team.
A native of Lower Sackville, N.S, Chiasson has yet to represent Canada but represented her province at the 2017 Canada Games, leading them to a bronze medal finish. While she will be in tough to make the roster for the U20 World Cup, even just participating in the camp is a massive boost for her ahead of her sophomore U SPORTS season.
Pante, Ward represent League 1 BC
Mia Pante and Holly Ward have been two of the best players in League 1 BC so far this season, and the two are near locks to represent Canada at the U20 World Cup. Both represented the CanWNT U20s at the Concacaf Championship and qualifiers earlier this year, leading Canada to a third-place finish.
Pante has played this summer with the NCAA-heavy TSS Rovers while preparing for her season at Texas A&M, while Texas Longhorn’s Ward has spent the last few months playing with the UBC Thunderbirds-based Varsity FC under former Whitecaps FC Academy head coach Jesse Symons.
Pante plays a more central role, while Ward does her work down the wing before cutting in, and both have dominated the opposition in the inaugural season of League 1 BC. While much of the roster hails from Ontario and Quebec, the two League 1 BC athletes look to prove the league’s worth on the international stage.
The FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022
Costa Rica will host the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup from August 10-28, with 16 teams from FIFA’s six confederations. From CONCACAF, Canada is joined by the host nation, Mexico, and the United States.
The CanWNT U20s will look to emerge from Group C, playing France, South Korea and Nigeria, with their tournament opener on Aug. 11 against the South Koreans. Canada has hosted the tournament twice, in 2002 and 2014, with their best result coming at the home tournament in 2002 when they finished as runners-up to the U.S.A.
For the full training camp roster, CLICK HERE