About 80 young girls tried out but only one 麻豆社国产soccer phenom has made it onto the Zone 5 team to play in the BC Summer Games.
Valleycliffe's Brooke Molby said she had some tough - and not-so tough - competition vying for a spot on team Explosion, the U12 girls' soccer team representing the region at the province wide games.
"Some of them were pretty good and some of them were kind of not too good but most of them were pretty good," said the 12-year-old.
"At first I thought that I wasn't very good compared to them, but after a while, once I started to watch them and they narrowed it down a bit, I started to figure that I might get in."
After a series of tryouts involving everything from running drills to shoot outs, Brooke survived two eliminations and secured a spot in the top 12. Then the 麻豆社国产Fireballs rep team goalie played the waiting game.
"They didn't call us for at least a week after the tryouts. It took a while. It was quite intense just waiting for the call."
Now, she said, she couldn't be happier.
"It feels really good. I can't wait for the games."
With practices running three times a week, Brooke is having a blast preparing for the games set to start in Langley on Thursday (July 22).
"It's lots of fun we do all kinds of fun drills and we do up the scrimmages. I'm nervous but my goalie coach and my parents make me feel a lot better."
Since practice started in May, Brooke has already learned a ton of new techniques from goalie coach Danny Vaughn, who played in the BC Games four years ago, and from two team coaches Bruce Dutnall and Scott Christie.
Explosion coach Scott Christie said Brooke was selected as the team's keeper because of her bravery and courage.
"When we saw her play goal, it was her fearlessness that struck us the most. She had no fear in net. It didn't matter whether somebody was coming and she had to dive at their feet to get the ball or whether the shot was taken from just a few feet from her, she never backed down," said Christie.
"Goalies are a rare breed."
Rep team coach and father Ron Molby got his daughter into goaltending just two years ago when the 麻豆社国产Fireballs needed a keeper and Brooke was recovering from a heel injury.
"We decided to put her in net and quickly realized she had quite the passion for wanting to save the game and wanting to save the ball, so that's kind of how it all started," said Ron.
Brooke's mother Sacha said she and her husband are bursting with pride for their daughter's achievements.
"We're so proud of her. It was a big deal for her to do the try outs and just to watch her keep going through and taking the pressure on - because there's a lot of pressure being a goalie. We're super excited."
She said she occasionally has doubts about her abilities, but once the whistle blows she's got her game face on.
"I wonder if I'm going to save the ball or not but once I get into it I'm fine."
