Cairine Wilson Wildcats Texas tour

During the March break, the girls' varsity soccer team from Cairine Wilson Secondary School took an eight-night trip to Texas. We visited Waco for 5 nights, where we billeted with the members of the girls varsity soccer team from Midway High School. The last three nights we spent in the exciting city of Dallas.

                While in Waco, we played several games including one against the Midway Pantherettes. It was an exciting and hard fought game, which resulted in a 2-0 win for Midway. Both teams were impressed by their opponents. What made everything more special was our interim assistant coach. Our assistant coach when we were in Waco was Canadian soccer star Charmaine Hooper. She is a truly phenomenal soccer player and has played 131 times for the Canadian National Team. She was coached for several years in her adolescence by the Cairine Wilson soccer coach, Stuart Barbour. In my mind and in many other people's minds she is the best Canadian female soccer player of all time. It was so amazing to learn from her. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

                Michaela Matschke, a grade nine defender on the team, says, "Meeting Charmaine Hooper was an amazing experience. She was a great influence and truly inspiring." This was the opinion of all the Cairine players including Karleigh Bell, the team's goalkeeper who said, "We were so lucky to get this opportunity. It was an experience I'll never forget."

                While in Waco, we all had a blast spending time with our new friends from Midway High School. We made lifelong friendships and memories that we will never forget.  When I asked my teammate Megan Francoeur what her favourite part of the trip was, she said, "Meeting new people and getting to see how they lived was the best experience."

Even though our new friends live so far away, we were alike in so many ways. We liked the same shows, movies, music and even clothes. The main similarity was our love for soccer. Our love for soccer was the thing that really brought us together. However there were some interesting differences as well. The way we talk, not just our accents but the words we use, was the main difference. We had so much fun in Texas. None of us can wait until next year when the Midway girls come stay with us.