This past winter, several Oakville Football Club players participated in a selection camp for early admissions to the Canadian National Soccer Development Center (NDC), a new training program for elite-level women’s soccer players.

Competition was fierce last year. Only the best of the best are invited to train full time with Head Coach Joey Lombardi.

Among those players was Adriana Banchin, an attack-minded midfielder who, at the time, felt it “work ethic and intensity” allows him to lead by example.

“Having that trial was a really good experience because I learned a lot that week,” and “it showed me that I want to train where people will challenge me and it will make me better,” said Adriana.

However, things didn’t go their way after the initial week-long trial run. “I didn’t really get any feedback or information, so I assumed as if I didn’t make it,” the 15-year-old lamented.

Things have a funny way of working for people with the right attitude, and the aforementioned “work ethic and intensity” keep them on Lombardi’s radar.

The switch in position results in a breakthrough for the Blakelock students. “I switched mid-season to being a striker, and then I started to really excel. I scored a goal; I’m making a play.

And then he got a call from Coach Lombardi saying “I’m so excited; at first, I was shocked!” she beamed.

Even though he knows nothing will come easy for him in this program, he looks forward to the challenge. “This training will definitely push me to be the best, and even when I do tryouts, every day, I will come out with a smile on my face because I know that is where I want to be.”

Adriana will benefit from being around familiar faces, as former Oakville Football Club Goalkeeper Madison London has been with the team since last year. “He was very happy that I came, and I was very happy that I had at least one person I knew.”

He looks up to Canadian national team greats like Jesse Flemming and Christine Sinclair, and this talented young player is on the right track, at least imagining a path to their level. Adriana was excited about the prospect of its creation Canadian women’s professional league and having that kind of competition at home, which is something none of those greats could ever have imagined.

For now, it’s a step-by-step for the Oakville native.

Adriana has joined the NDC squad, training three times a week. He will be there full-time from January 31, once the new high school term begins, and he is fully enrolled at Bill Crothers High School in Markham with the rest of his team.