Lacovic tagged as tops in N.A.

A Kelowna youth soccer player has been identified as one of the top players of her age group in all of North America.

Haylee Lacovic, a Grade 9 student at Constable Neil Bruce middle school, has been invited to attend the United Soccer League’s Super-Y League Olympic Development Camp next spring in Tampa, Florida.

“I was very shocked to get picked,” said Lacovic. “I’m definitely looking forward to going down there.

Lacovic is among just 216 players selected to the USL national camp in her age group, meaning she is among the top two per cent of players in the Super-Y League.

Last season Lacovic played on the U-13 Okanagan Whitecaps club in the Super-Y League, a team that came within a whisper of making it to the North American finals.

“The last game we played we needed to win but we tied,” said Lacovic. “We had a pretty good year. At the beginning it wasn’t very good because we were just getting to know each other but once the year went on we started winning our games.”

Lacovic’s speed was an integral part of the success of the Whitecaps U-13 girls, according to her coach John Hemmerling.

“Haylee is a very dynamic player,” he said. “She has great speed and she is very determined. Her speed and her quickness are deceptive. She has the ability to go around players with the ball.”

A striker, Lacovic agreed with that sentiment about her play. Once she was able to burst around a defender, she had a few options.

“If I could get around them I could go straight to the net,” she said. “If I didn’t have the chance to shoot I could cross it in for someone else.”

The Super-Y League is the highest level of youth soccer in B.C. Coaches in the league voted on which players to invite to the USL camp.

Lacovic is expecting a lot of talented soccer players to be with her when she takes part in the camp in March.

“I expect it to be a little challenging but also fun because you get to learn more about soccer,” she said.

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