'Just have fun and ball out': Olympic, World Cup and NHL Draft connections among Canadian hopefuls for TST $1M prize
Under the relentless Vancouver rain, an early June training had more importance than most in Canadian university soccer – even with conditions far different expected for matchday.
For 20 women, including the U SPORTS Champion UBC Thunderbirds and Canadian Olympic medalist Lauren Sesselmann, it was the final opportunity to fine-tune their squad before a potentially life-changing week.
Consisting primarily of UBC players and complemented by Olympic and World Cup experience, Streetball FC, as they’ll be known, is the lone Canadian women’s side competing at The Soccer Tournament, a seven-a-side tournament with adjusted rules in Cary, North Carolina. The champions will earn a $1 million USD prize.
Two men’s sides, one from Vancouver, dubbed FitBodega Vancouver and one from Toronto, Toronto Athletic FC, will compete for the same prize in the men’s tournament.
Lauren Sesselmann has an Olympic bronze medal with the #CanWNT.
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) June 2, 2024
A core of that John Herdman era, and 2015 World Cup run.
She’s the leader on this TST 7v7 team now, and tells me it’s like she’s 22 again spending time with these primarily UBC athletes. pic.twitter.com/MkMneVzP7k
“I got to play in it last year, and it was such an incredible experience, so this year incorporating a women’s tournament, [rather than having women in the men’s tournament], it’s going to be a great experience,” Sesselmann told OneSoccer, having played in the inaugural edition, and been lured into Streetball FC through a connection with former CanWNT goalkeeper Karina Leblanc, and UBC women’s soccer head coach, Jesse Symons.
“Being able to come out here and rock Canada again is such a pleasure and honour, especially with our team; it's such a young squad,... the number one thing is just to enjoy the process because when you're having fun, that's how you win, right?”
Canadian teams look to build off last year’s success
Stepping into the scorching heat and humidity of North Carolina, the Canadians come into the tournament with a little swagger -- even if they’ve yet to train in such conditions.
Last June, a group of primarily League1 Ontario and national team futsal players came within a game of winning the million, losing to Connecticut’s Newtown Pride FC in the final.
While that Toronto group, formerly known as SLC FC, returns under a new name, they’ve pulled in more Canadian participation as the three teams get set to rub shoulders with some footballing starlets, including Formiga, Ali Krieger, Sergio Aguero, Bakary Sako, and a former Vancouver Whitecaps trio of Kekuta Manneh, Erik Hurtado and Christian Dean.
But Canadian connections can be found in U.S. team's, too: Two familiar faces, Dwayne De Rosario and Sebastian Giovinco, highlight Jimmy Conrad's team, Kwik Goal FC
TWO FORMER MLS MVPs LINKING UP FOR KWIK GOAL FC AT TST‼️
— TST (@TST7v7) June 3, 2024
Lots of goals from these two coming🔜 pic.twitter.com/O8tnspEQYD
Last year, however, it was a week they became the darlings of Canadian soccer in what proved to be an immensely popular tournament and has lured more stars in its second edition.
SLC FC’s success as a rag-tag group of unknown Canadians stole the show. Pushing aside legends and forging their way through to the final, they nearly secured the prize in front of a shocked and sold-out crowd.
Mario Kovacevic, a 33-year-old doctor who played on and organized SLC FC, is leading FitBodega Vancouver's efforts.
Having recently graduated medical school at UBC, the former University of Toronto midfielder didn’t want to be travelling back east and made an effort to find a sponsor to cover the nearly USD $40,000 buy-in cost of the tournament before stepping in to find players through the UBC men’s soccer program.
FitBodega, a Vancouver supplements retailer, stepped up to cover the buy-in. The players covered the remainder of the costs, many coming up with the cash for the experience while also adapting to the rules of the small-field game.
“We were lucky to get into the tournament as a Canadian team last year. There were only 32 spots, and there ended up being over 500 applicants, but we got in and did pretty well,” he said. “I reached out to the organizers, and they said if we can bring a west coast team from Canada, they’d be in.”
Having played with many of the UBC players as a member of League1 BC’s now defunct Varsity FC, Kovacevic quickly convinced head coach Mike Mosher to lead the group while pulling together an experienced group of West Coast talent.
Among the players on Kovacevic’s side are former CPL talents Chris Lee, Daniel Kaiser, Victory Shumbusho, Thomas Gardner, and Andreas Vaikla.
“We’ve got about 75 percent of the guys that have played for UBC,” he added. “But then, in a tournament like this, you require specialists in certain positions, so we’ve brought in some guys like [Vaikla] from Ontario.”
Through the week leading up to TST, the two Vancouver sides have gotten together and learned how to play in the small-sided game. Outside of being seven aside, TST rules have matches always end on a target score goal. If Team A is beating Team B 2-1 when time expires, the first team to three goals wins.
They’ll also have to deal with hockey-style on-the-fly player changes, and if no target score has been hit by the end of regulation, each team takes a player off the pitch, creating more space and chaos, all the way down to 1v1.
“It’s been good to get a week of training in and learning the game a little,” Katalin Tolnai, the U SPORTS player of the year, said. “Getting used to the different rules, the no offside, seven aside, and the subbing has been an adjustment, but it’s getting better.”
Going one step further:
In Ontario, however, the focus is on building from last year’s success, even as Kovacevic puts together his side in Vancouver.
Lorenzo Redwood, the head coach of Canada’s national futsal team, has taken on the head coach role once again, bringing the small-sided tactics into the second TST, with many from the group that made the run to the final in 2023.
His side and several others from across Canada competed in a Toronto tournament for $100,000. While neither they nor FitBodega Vancouver came away as champions, it provided a bit of leadup.
“They understand now what I wanted from them last year. It was a learning curve because they had never played in that system, but now there’s a way we want to play in that game,” Redwood said, despite missing the leadup tournament while away on travels. “Last year, everything changed when we made it to the Round of 16. It was exciting. We are a small team from Canada, and no one knew who we were, but they’ll know who we are this year.”
While efforts to land a big-name player to the Toronto side didn’t come to fruition, the team features former pros and experienced indoor players, including Daniel Gogarty, John Smits, and Damian Graham, with them among a returning core.
“Everybody expects the big names to win, so we never feel like we have a target on our backs,” Redwood added. “For us, it’s the same mentality as last year, right? Each game, whatever it is, we just have to continue to play to what we know.”
Streetball’s title hopes leading Canadian sides
Of all three Canadian teams, Streetball may have the best chance of winning the tournament. Featuring a young group that aims to press high and vigorously, they find themselves up against primarily older players, including those formerly of the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Facing USWNT alumni, a Wrexham FC women’s group, and a mix of former NWSL players repping Angel City FC in the group stage, there’s quiet confidence among the Streetball group.
After all, the organization already has a big international tournament win under its belt, with FC Streetball winning the 2022 Gothia Cup, the international youth tournament held in Sweden since 1975.
Outside of Sesselmann and Tolnai, the team also includes talents such as CanWNT goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais and Philippines national team members Sarina Bolden and Jaclyn Sawicki, who both played in the FIFA World Cup 2023.
“We all just really wanted this” 🇨🇦🏆 @USPORTSca player of the year in women’s soccer Katalin Tolnai and Sophia Ferreira reflect on @ubctbirds winning the national title
— CBC Sports (@cbcsports) November 15, 2023
Tolnai's late goal in extra time lifted UBC past its Canada West rival Trinity Western 1-0 in the final pic.twitter.com/SnKqbdU66b
Although winning the prize pot would come with immense value, getting more exposure and continued success for Streetball, a North Vancouver soccer club focused on small-sided, fun games for youth, would be critical, especially as they look to distance themselves from the pay-to-play model that dominates Canadian soccer.
“I didn’t know about it until recently, but it fits in right with what we’re doing,” said Randy Celebrini, the famed Vancouver physiotherapist, who was the first-ever Director of Sports Science for Pacific FC and is the primary organizer of Streetball.
“We have Streetball as a way to get more touches and have some structure, but we don’t let parents come in and over coach... this is for the kids, and this tournament can let these athletes play like they’re eight years old again -- just have fun and ball out.”
For the players, including Celebrini’s daughter Sirena, TST comes with a star-filled tournament and a chance to chase nearly $1.36 million CAD, but for Randy and Sirena, it kicks off a big month for the family, with cousin Macklin expected to be picked first overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
“We’re a sport-crazy family, but the thing with Macklin is he’s always playing for joy, and he’s 100 percent committed,” Randy said. “I was talking to Sirena on the drive to training and said I love what I see; once you’ve got that 100 percent rule, your stress level goes down because you're committed. Your only intent is to enjoy yourself and get better. I think that's the message we should have for every kid.”
The tournament in Cary kicks off on June 5 and runs through June 10. The finalist women’s teams have to play five matches and the men eight if they play until the final day.
