Two local soccer players will be heading to the North American Indigenous Games to represent Squamish during the event, which will run from July 16 to 23.
Jazmyn and Julia Williams will be wearing the colours of Team B.C. in the under-19 division.
The pair aren’t related, but one thing they share – aside from a common last name – is a deep love of the game of soccer.
Jazmyn, a 17-year-old hailing from the Squamish Nation, said that her big brother is one of the key reasons why she’s taken soccer so seriously.
“My brother really pushed me,” she said. “He was a really good soccer player, as well.”
“I want my brother to be proud of me,” Jazmyn added.
It appears as if she’s on the right track to making that happen.
A desire for victory is something found in all successful athletes, and Jazmyn is no exception.
“I’m really competitive,” she said. “I really like to win.”
But at the same time, building relationships is very important to her.
“I think the thing I love most about soccer is being with my team,” she said.
Julia also seems to share a competitive spirit.
She mentioned that the process to get to the Indigenous games can be very difficult, as teams pass through a series of tournaments before qualifying.
And it’s a challenge she said she relishes.
Julia, who won the 2016 Premier’s Awards for Aboriginal Youth Excellence in Sport in the category of soccer, said her drive to win is something that runs in the family.
“Almost everyone in my family has played soccer,” said the 16-year-old Squamish Nation player.
“I’m excited because of my mom,” she added. “She really pushed me hard for soccer.”
For Julia, the games also take on an added significance.
The community has been cheering them on every step of the way, and to illustrate that she recalled how people from the Squamish Nation gathered to lift the girls’ spirits during the qualifying tournament to enter the Indigenous games.
“We had so much support from our nation,” she said.
