TORONTO — The hits preserve coming for teenage striker Kaylee Hunter.
Final yr the Calgary native — then 16 — was the youngest participant invited to a Canadian under-20 camp in Germany. At membership degree, she was honoured because the Most Promising Feminine Participant as a part of the Vancouver Whitecaps annual participant awards.
Taking part in for the Whitecaps FC Women Elite workforce, Hunter noticed motion in CONCACAF W Champions Cup video games in Mexico and Panama. The match additionally noticed her face Christine Sinclair and the Portland Thorns at B.C. Place Stadium.
“That was a dream come true for me,” Hunter mentioned in an interview. “I’ve at all times seemed as much as her since I used to be a bit of woman. So many individuals in Canada seemed as much as her. So attending to play alongside my idol, the GOAT of the sport, (that is) one thing most individuals don’t get to do. So I am actually lucky to have that have.”
Sinclair scored within the 6-0 Portland win.
Hunter, who turned 17 on Jan. 22, shall be rubbing shoulders with extra Canadian expertise come April, having signed with AFC Toronto of the brand new Northern Tremendous League.
“We consider Kaylee is undoubtedly top-of-the-line rising gamers within the nation and we’re ecstatic that she has determined to take the primary steps of her skilled profession with AFC Toronto,” Toronto sporting director Billy Wilson mentioned in an announcement.
Hunter mentioned the choice to go professional took a while.
“Clearly faculty is a extremely large alternative and life expertise that everybody ought to get to undergo. However in my eyes, the way in which I considered this new league, I believe it is an excellent alternative for youthful gamers to understand that you may play professionally in your nation — at a younger age.
“I took this chance after I received the possibility and now I am simply excited to get began and sort of make a reputation for myself in it.”
She isn’t avoiding faculty altogether. “I want,” Hunter mentioned with a smile.
Midway by Grade 11, she is resigned to schoolwork after coaching “and hopefully end up highschool as quickly as I can.”
Hunter says she was drawn to AFC Toronto by the folks.
“I believe it is actually tight-knit, like household nearly,” she mentioned. “It will turn out to be household for me. They have been actually useful and sort to me from the get-go.”
She additionally expects the workforce surroundings to be “super-competitive” — which may solely elevate her sport.
Rising up with three older brothers, Hunter isn’t any stranger to competitors — particularly in soccer.
“My brothers are the three folks that basically made me fall in love with the sport probably the most, I believe,” she mentioned.
“After which as soon as I spotted that I used to be good at it and I may make one thing out of it, I saved working laborious after which alternatives began to come back. And now I’ve ended up right here.”
Hunter was three when she began soccer. Twelve years later, she made her debut for the Canadian under-17 workforce in August 2023.
Hunter performed for Calgary West FC earlier than shifting to Vancouver in January 2024. The Whitecaps Woman Elite facet gained League1 B.C. after which the League1 Inter-Provincial Championship to qualify for the CONCACAF W Champions Cup.
Wilson was watching.
“It was apparent that this wasn’t simply one other proficient younger participant,” he mentioned. “Kaylee is somebody with an unimaginable work ethic and burning need to enhance. Once you mix these qualities together with her technical talents, we consider that now we have a really particular participant becoming a member of the membership.”
A Chelsea fan, Hunter factors to Canada captain Jessie Fleming — a former Chelsea participant now with Portland — as a participant she has at all times loved watching.
“She likes to get on the ball within the midfield, make performs occur like I do generally,” she mentioned.
Hunter says her favorite function is within the tip of the spear as a No. 9, however has been used as a large ahead by Canada.
“I like to attain as a lot as I can,” she mentioned.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Jan. 29, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
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