Brinley Bjornson brought home national hardware last month following the Toyota U-17 National Championship in Moncton.
The attacking midfielder for Burnaby Football Club started playing soccer as a TimBit on the Sunshine Coast at three years old, going on to play in West Vancouver starting in Grade 5, and for the past six years, Burnaby FC, formerly Mountain United FC.
Her dedication to competitive soccer has meant travelling to Vancouver five days a week for training and games.
“In 2021 I was identified to represent BC through the British Columbia Provincial program where we train every Tuesday at SFU with identification matches and tournaments throughout the year,” explained Bjornson. Their team won the provincial championships in June, which qualified them to play at the Moncton nationals.
After playing teams from Nova Scotia, Quebec, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, they met Alberta in the finals. “It was one of the most intense games I have ever played. We tied it up in the 80th minute which resulted in us needing to win in a shoot out (which we did). We left it all on the field and played our hearts out.”
Bjornson particularly recognises coaches Kat Tomic and Technical Director Lee Tregonning for their coaching and preparation.
For now, Bjornson wants to continue playing with her teams and after earning a degree, she would like to pursue a professional contact.
