An outstanding debut with the University of the Fraser Valley women's soccer team has netted
Bryana Buttar a share of the Cascades Female Rookie of the Year award.
The versatile midfielder from Abbotsford shared the honour with Deanna Tuchscherer of the women's basketball team.
Buttar's 2019 campaign was stellar. She became the first UFV women's soccer player to earnÂ
Canada West rookie of the yearhonours, and was voted to the all-rookie teams for bothÂ
Canada West andÂ
U SPORTS. She finished third on the team in goals (3), assists (2) and points (5) during the regular season, and scored the lone goal of the game toÂ
lift the Cascades past the Alberta Pandas in the CW quarter-finals.
In honour of Buttar's accomplishment, we connected with Cascades head coach
Rob Giesbrecht to reflect on the very first time he saw her play, and the moment he knew she could be a special player at the university level.
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ROB GIESBRECHT:Â "I've known and coached Bryana for seven years, which is unusual for a recruit. The first time I saw her play, she in Grade 6. I was coaching at the Abby Middle School soccer academy, and she stood out immediately. She was fearless. She went into physical battles as a Grade 6 girl vs. Grade 8 boys and did more than hold her own. She just had a will to compete and a will to win that very few young athletes have.Â
"The core group in the soccer academy was Jehmrode (Kahlon, current Cascades men's soccer player and 2019-20 male rookie of the year), a bunch of his buddies, and Bry. Jehmrode was fantastic, but Bry was right there. She was so good."
BRYANA BUTTAR: "I remember the very first time (on the field at the soccer academy) – looking around and thinking 'There are so many boys here.' But I was never scared. I was excited to show I could play with them, too. I never wanted them to think, 'Oh, she's a girl, she's not as good.' I felt I had to prove I could compete with them. I've been competitive since I was little, so that was a big part of it.
"I feel like it for sure added to my game. And coming to university, even, it helped me – I was never scared. I was more just excited, having that opportunity to play against older players."
RG:Â "In 2014, Bryana wasÂ
named to Canada's U15 team, and I was really excited for her. It's a great honour, and I believe she was underage as well (age 13, on an under-15 team). They went down to the Caribbean, and theyÂ
won the CONCACAF championship. It was great to see a young player from our Abby Middle soccer academy be recognized with a call-up to a youth national team. To be recognized that early is special."
BB:Â "I always look back to that, and it's a great memory. When I was little, I never expected to play for Team Canada. But to not only be selected, but to get to play in those games was huge for me. Overall, it was a really fun experience. I'll always remember it as one of the best experiences of my life."
RG:Â "It was cool to see Bryana mature as an athlete through her middle school and high school years. I was hoping I'd get to watch her first-hand continue that growth at university, and was thrilled when she chose to come to us."
BB:Â "Rob had a lot to do with it. Playing at home was another factor. A lot of people go away (for university), but in the end, I had so much fun in my first year. I got to play a lot, and the girls on the team made it a great experience."
RG: "I had high expectations for Bryana when she came in, and she lived up to them. Soccer is not a sport where you can often quantify a player's value (with statistics). She does a lot of the dirty work that goes unnoticed – covering for teammates, pressing, tackling, a lot of really selfless acts that are just awesome. It really helped change our on-field team culture, and we're now a tougher to play against because we have a player like Bryana. It really excites me about our future, to continue building around a player of her quality."
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