AT ONLY 14, SOCCER STAR HANNAH DUGUID PUSHES HERSELF PLAYING UP IN U18 GROUP
Team Alberta – Calgary’s Hannah Duguid is poised for international success in Women’s soccer
(Winnipeg, MB) At 14 years of age, Calgary’s Hannah Duguid is poised to make waves at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg.
Playing against girls four years older, the female soccer player sporting the Team Alberta colors at these Canada Games has to challenge herself against girls of much bigger size.
Hannah is the daughter of Todd and Nancy Duguid. Todd is a landscape architect while Nancy is a nurse at the Peter Lougheed Hospital in Calgary. “Both my parents play soccer, and they put me in grassroots soccer when I was young. I just loved it,” said Hannah. “My father played in the AMSL (Alberta Major Soccer League) early in his life, and my mom also played.”
Duguid starter her playing soccer at an early age, and quickly moved up. Initially playing at the Calgary West Soccer Club, she quickly moved to the strong Southwest United program a few years later where she bloomed as a player. “SWU only had a ’01 team, so I played up age groups from the start. I’ve always been with the SA 02 team and then the REX (Canada Soccer Player Development) program with them. Being with the older girls always gave me a challenge, competition. I had to work harder, faster as they were much bigger than me.”
Ramon Mifflin, Team Alberta’s Manager at these Canada Games and Technical Director at Calgary Southwest United, see immense potential in the young prodigy. “Hannah is incredibly mature for her age. She’s had a tremendous growth in the past two years, and now she’s that Elite level. She’s an incredibly hard worker. She’s that kid that is the first one to arrive at the field and the last one to leave, four five days a week.
Being physically much smaller than her teammates and opponents, Duguid overcomes challenges on a day-to-day basis. “I have to be tougher because of my size difference. Sometimes I do feel like I need to perform better, so I can start the game and stay on the field longer. I have to be tough.”
On the field of play, Hannah has proven that she deserves to be on the pitch, according to Mifflin. “She’s here because she deserves it, not to be a Cinderella story. She’s here because she’s one of the best players on this team. She’s very physical, has good pace and is technically sound. It’s been a real joy to watch her develop.”
“Size doesn’t make a difference with her. In that small frame, she packs a lot of power. She is very quick. She’s top 3 in the team in 0-60 acceleration,” added Mifflin
“The challenge she’ll face will be on the psychology; it will be a mind game. To see the older, bigger and most experienced kids from the national level will be new to her. But she always rises to the occasion, and we expect it to be no different here at these Canada Games. We expect her to be a game changer.
When asked what her career aspirations were, Duguid was quick to point out: “The Canadian National Soccer Team.” And for her future, Coach Mifflin sees her nowhere else but at the National Team in five years. “Absolutely, she’s one of the better players in her age group in Alberta. If you want to compare her to professional players, she’s like a ‘little Messi’. Very creative, very aggressive, takes people on all the time and she’s not scared of that. She’s special to watch.”
Team Alberta’s women soccer plays all week at the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex in Winnipeg, with the medal matches taking place Thursday, August 3rd.
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