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WolfPack Women’s Soccer signs Aurora’s Ambrose

May 14, 2014   ·   0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
For a young athlete, turning years of hard work into something bigger is always a benchmark and that is exactly what 17-year-old Ciara Ambrose has done.
The Aurora resident and student at Country Day School in King recently signed on with the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack in Kamloops, British Colombia to play soccer and also study for a degree in hospitality and tourism management and plans to pursue a post graduate in sports management.
“It’s really exciting and a little nerve-racking, but exciting,” she said. “I trained a lot with my dad and put in a lot of extra hours with my teams training, so that and good coaching from my dad has paid off a lot.”
Ambrose is coming off a few very competitive and noteworthy seasons, including a championship title with her team at CDS and also some solid seasons playing with the Markham U18 squad, the Vaughan U18 OYSL and U21 OWSL teams.
Before that, she developed her game playing in house leagues since the age of four and then moving into rep at 10 years old in the Aurora Youth Soccer league.
Her family history in the sport of soccer has also helped her along the way and has kept her focused on moving forward.
“My granddad played internationally in Ireland, he also played for the Shamrock Rovers, so having that as part of my family, soccer just seems like it has always been a part of my family and a part of me,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t play.”
Last year she was also given a great opportunity to play with the National Champions women’s team in Ireland while on vacation.
Her dad, Martin, has spent a lot of time training her and said the experience she has gained over the past couple of years has been a huge help in her development.
“She got a lot of exposure to some high competition last year, so it was a pretty good year for her, notwithstanding her CDS team won the nationals, so it was a very positive year,” he said.
“Ciara has done tremendously well to keep her focus on the game. She’s always sort of had that bite in her. We lived in Australia for a couple years when she was six or seven and she played for her sister’s team who is three years older, so there was always an exposure to competitiveness and she sort of continued on that way.”
As her dad and training partner, he said it’s her competitiveness and discipline that keeps her powering forward toward her goals.
“I’m very pleased for her,” he said. “It’s something she has always wanted and for someone who develops and matures and they sort of look to achieve and I think it’s through that independence that they can achieve and I think Ciara is entering into that phase.”
Playing with the WolfPack will be a big part of that phase for Ambrose and she said she couldn’t be any more excited to be going out west to a place she is already familiar with.
Her family has gone out to Kamloops to ski every year since 2000 and her sister was also looking at the school a few years ago.
“This Christmas we went to look around and we got in touch with Tom McManus, the coach, and I just really liked everything about it.”
This year the soccer program at Thompson Rivers University will be moving into the Canadian Interuniversity Sport [CIS] loop, so Ambrose will be expecting the competition to high.
Training starts at the school on August 12, but she will be working hard and playing here at home throughout the summer to make sure she’s ready.
Her coach the past four years was Peter Milonas.
“Ciara has become a general in the middle of the field,” he said. “Our squad plays a 4-3-3 where she has played at the center of our back line.  Each year she moved further ‘up field.’ She was instrumental as a holding (defensive) midfielder last year. This season, she stepped up and played as an attacking midfielder. With each passing year, she has improved her ball control and ability to play in tight spaces.”
Milonas added: “She is a very strong ball winner, great tackler, she is always looking to play dangerous balls in behind opposing defenders and is a great taker of set pieces. I believe that Ciara’s style of play will be quite successful in the CIS. She is strong and loves to play direct.  The largest hurdle for her to overcome will be the speed of the game.”
“She can play either as an attacking midfielder or a striker,” said McManus about his latest signing. “She is a fit player and has done very well playing for her teams in Ontario. I watched her recently at the Indoor Provincials.  I think she is very skillful. Her first touch is great and her vision and passing is superb. It is hard to assess indoor but was still picking players apart with her passing to her teammates.  She loves to shoot as well.”
As far as describing her strengths? “It is always difficult to describe yourself as a player. However, self-awareness is also key to understanding how to maximize both your own and the capabilities of those around you. I have always played with an open mind and a disciplined attitude in whatever position my coach felt I contributed most to the team or what was required at the time.”
TRU, the three-time PACWEST champion and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association 2013 Bronze medalists begin its first CIS and Canada West training camp in mid-August.

         

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