By Emmanuelle Champagne
A few months after the launch of the new women’s program at the CF Montréal Academy, the team has several goals in mind for their upcoming competitive season.
The competitive season officially begins in April. However, the team has a tournament scheduled for December. Julie Casselman, the coach· of the women’s program, says their main goal is to beat the Vancouver team. The players are eager to bounce back from their last loss to the Whitecaps last summer.
Strengthen the sense of community
In order to become a stronger team on the field, they need to be more united. That is one of their main goals, according to Laurence Leblanc, the team’s center back.
“At the start of the year, several new players join the team. So we need to focus more on our teamwork,” explains Laurence Leblanc, the central defender for the CF Montréal women’s team.
A competition season that's too short
The coach·head coach of the women’s program, Julie Casselman, believes that the length of the competitive season (16 weeks) is not long enough to allow the players to improve adequately. Competition is necessary for the development of a·athlete. Without competitions, it is much harder to know what needs to be corrected or improved, or to identify a·athlete.
“When compared to players of the same age in Europe or the United States, those athletes compete for nine to ten months a year. Their skill development is clearly not at the same level,” says the coach·head coach of the women’s program, Julie Casselman.
In fact, this is the case for the team’s center back, Laurence Leblanc. Next year, she will head to the United States to pursue her dream of playing professionally. Despite her excitement, she remains realistic, maintaining a balance between her studies and her athletic career.
“It’s important to me to balance my studies with sports. But if the opportunity arises, I’d definitely like to play professionally,” says soccer player Laurence Leblanc.
