By Charlie Crabb
Ottawa soccer is on the rise. This July, four Ottawa-born players and another four from the Carleton Ravens will compete for Canada at the world’s second largest sporting event, the FISU Summer Universiade.
Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced in April that Pilar Khoury, Julia Francki, Jonathan Viscosi, and Robbie Murphy will make the trip to Kazan, Russia for the competition that draws student-athletes together from around the world every two years.
Steve Johnson, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees head coach and an assistant for Canada’s women’s team, says the tournament will be unlike anything else the players have participated in before.
“It’s a wonderful experience,” he describes.
Johnson previously served on Canada’s coaching staff for the Universiade in 2001, 2005, and 2007. In 2005, he managed the women’s team to a fifth-place finish in Izmir, Turkey.
Johnson hopes Khoury and Francki, both Gee-Gees, will benefit from the experience the same way their teammate Gillian Baggott did in 2011.
“Two years ago, Gillian went to Shenzhen, China where the University Games were held,” Johnson notes. “I personally feel it was the best experience she’s ever had in soccer. It helped her develop into the player she was last year. She finished [this year] as CIS player of the year.”
Khoury, who was an Ontario first-team all-star in her second CIS season, was surprised to crack the Canadian lineup.
“To be honest my expectation wasn’t to make the team,” says the former Gloucester Hornets star. “I’m only 18, so just learning from all the fourth-year, fifth-year players and watching the way they take it all in and then trying to do the same, will be a key factor for me.”
Goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi is graduating from the University of Buffalo this spring. He has big ambitions for the tournament.
“Once I’m in Europe I actually plan on staying in Europe,” underlines Viscosi, a former Ottawa South United player. “I hope to take advantage of the exposure that will come from it. There will be a lot of people watching and it goes well with my plans to stay in Europe and play professionally. I’m going to a few tryouts and hopefully I find a team there for the 2013 season.”
Francki says that the number of Ottawa natives going to the event speaks well for local youth soccer programs.
“Even just my Ottawa U team alone is primarily soccer players from Ottawa,” the former Cumberland Cobra highlights. “Ottawa does have a very strong youth program, and you can see that from just our soccer team.”
Both Khoury and Viscosi voiced their frustration on how players from Ottawa are often overlooked in favour of athletes from larger cities when forming provincial and national teams. It’s a trend they hope will change with their participation at the games.
“We definitely have a really solid program [in Ottawa],” says Khoury. “I think people kind of underestimate it sometimes. It’s definitely something great for us to show and to be able to say we were able to bring four players up to the FISU level, which is a very high level, is definitely a positive we need to take from here.”
Four Carleton Ravens will also be making the trip to the Universiade – Rachel Bedek, Veronica Mazella, and Briana DeSouza are on the women’s roster, while Ravens captain Joey Kewin will compete for the Canadian men.