Yukon natives Malorie Hanson and Sammy Demchuk won bronze with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks at the recent ACAC Women’s Soccer Championships.

Kodiaks head coach Sean Carey said the season also went well for the young Yukoners.

“They’re an absolute delight to have around … their personalities and their temperament, their attitudes, it just never wavers. Sammy doesn’t see a lot of the field in outdoor and she’s always the one that comes and she’s always laughing and joking and dancing and she’s just a great spirit to have around … she just keeps everything positive and then Mal’s very similar. Mal’s just very smiley all the time … both of them I think would say to you they’ve really enjoyed the season and … for Mal to be back playing again after the injury last year, she was thrilled. She just said

‘You know, I take it as a positive. This time last year, I couldn’t walk.”

Hanson is coming off of surgery for a serious knee injury and only started playing again in October.

Carey said each of the Yukon footballers bring different skills to the pitch.

“For Malorie, it’s her footwork. Her close ball control is just something. She’s at another level, she really is. She sees plays that a lot of players don’t see and she’s just so good at keeping the ball close to her when she’s making turns and moves and she can beat a player with one little shimmy and so her one-on-one strengths are huge.

“Sammy’s very creative when she gets the ball. She kind of sees plays happening before they happen and when she plays in the middle at midfield you kind of need that.

“And when we get to futsal, Sammy’s big strength is her shot. She’s got an absolute cannon on her. So that’s why she’s going to be really effective for us in futsal. She’s going to be playing quite a bit and she’ll be one of our important players for finding the back of the net.”

For young players like Demchuk, 19, and Hanson, 22, there’s always room for improvement.

“There’s always stuff to work on, right? You could say for Sammy, just again, consistency and – she just does everything that’s asked of her all the time.

“For Malorie, I think she’d just say maybe her shot. Maybe getting a few more goals would be something that I think she would want to see improve on her stat line but she just creates so much for everybody else and she draws players in, which makes her teammates – gives them lots of space on the field because the other team – (she’s) so good with the ball at her feet that they put two or three girls on her to try to get the ball and she lays it off, so that person’s open in space. So I think that Mal creates more and doesn’t get the kind of recognition that – the more she gets settled in again, playing, the goals and the assists will come. You’ll see her a lot more on the stat line.”

The future looks bright for both girls.

“I think Malorie can play U (University)-Sports for sure,” said Carey.

“She’s good enough skill-wise for that and I know it’s something with her schooling that might happen here in the future. I’d hate to lose her from Lethbridge College but I think at the end of the day, it’s all about the athlete and making sure they get the education that they want.

“We don’t want to lose her, if we can but I care and if she has to go somewhere else, then I would 100 per cent help her … talk to the other coaches and make sure they’re aware of what she’s about.”

“I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing next year, said Hanson. “I think I’m going to apply to athletic therapy probably in Victoria as well as at MRU (Mount Royal University) in Calgary.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing but I’d like to continue with my post-secondary education as well as hopefully playing soccer as I progress with my rehab and stuff with my knee.”

As for Demchuk, Carey will be happy to see her stick around.

“For Sammy, she needs to keep working on her game and she’s at the college for another four years cause she’s doing the nursing program, so we have her there for quite a while and it’s just going to be exciting. Hopefully here in the next year she can really be pushing for a starting spot and be an impact player for us.”

Demchuk added “I’m in my first year bachelor of nursing program and it’s a four-year program. So I’m hoping to just stay here all four years and keep playing all four years. Play out all my eligibility.”

Carey added “They are wonderful people and we’re very very fortunate and lucky to have Malorie and Sammy in Lethbridge and hopefully we get a few more girls coming down from the Yukon and joining our programs.”