When you are walking around the campus or scrolling through your social media feed you might see some of the athletes from UFV’s seven varsity teams and growing number of club teams. The Cascade spoke to some members of UFV’s women’s soccer team, in order to bring you the first edition of “Athlete Spotlight.” Here’s a chance to get to know some of the faces who compete for UFV’s varsity teams, and are killing it on the field.
Alannah Sydenham is a fourth year psychology student who plays defence for the women’s soccer team. Sydenham was born and raised in Surrey where she attended and graduated from Panorama Ridge Secondary in 2019. During her time in high school, Sydenham played soccer for her school team and also for Surrey United BCSPL, an elite soccer program based out of Cloverdale. Sydenhams communication is something that really stands out, whether it’s on the pitch in games or during practice, Sydenham is always a consistent and loud voice on this team.
“I’ve always been a really vocal person and been comfortable taking on leadership roles. I want to go into a career where I can use my communication skills and talk people through situations.” When you watch Sydenham play, you can clearly see that she is one of the leaders on the team and her teammates rely on her leadership and communication to help them dominate the field.
Jenna Mele is a fourth year criminal justice student who plays on the defence line for the women’s soccer team. Mele was born in Burnaby, but moved to Coquitlam at a young age. Mele graduated from Charles Best Secondary in 2019 where she played on their home team for all five years. Other than playing soccer for her school, Mele also played for Coquitlam Metro-Ford, a competitive club program for soccer. Mele told us that soccer gave her an opportunity to go to university when she might not have otherwise done.
“Playing soccer has given me so many opportunities, when I got the opportunity saying you can go to school, but you can also continue playing soccer, that was a really big selling point.” Mele explained how being positive and leading by example are some keys she tries to focus on when playing. “I think leading by example is a big one that I try to do on the field. I really try to encourage everyone and hype everyone up even for the little accomplishments. I think just having that positive mindset playing in a game is so big.” Mele is the anchor on the defence and uses her positive attitude to lead by example and keep her team motivated.
Kareena Sahota is a fourth year criminal justice student who plays goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team. Sahota was born and raised in Maple Ridge where she grew up playing soccer and basketball from a young age. Sahota decided to play soccer at UFV after graduating from Westview Secondary in 2019. “I started playing soccer when I was super young. My parents always enjoyed coming to my soccer games every Sunday, It was more like a family thing.”
Sahota’s parents immigrated from India over 25 years ago and raised two daughters. Sahota explained that her older sister, who is five years older than her, has been a huge influence and motivation in her life. In speaking with Sahota, it was clear how much it means to her to play on the team. “I’m super proud to be able to manage soccer and school, managing all the traveling and practices while also keeping my grades high, I’m just proud of myself and proud to play for the team and represent the school in that way.” Sahota explained that after she graduates from UFV, she plans on pursuing a masters degree.
Alannah, Jenna, and Kareena are just three of the amazing talents that we have on our women’s soccer team. If you want to see them and the rest of the team in action, make sure you catch the Cascades’ next home game against Trinity Western on Oct. 9 at Rotary Stadium.
Esher is a second year law & communications student who is invested in sports. When he isn't filming and writing about basketball, he can often be found washing cars or cutting the grass. Esher hopes to one day enter the field of law enforcement and start his own media group.
