CONCACAF championship marked highlight of 2010 youth season

On the road to Canada’s fifth CONCACAF youth title in March 2010, Canada’s women’s U-17 team eliminated the world reigning silver medalist USA. The victory on kicks from the penalty mark – following a 0:0 draw in the semi-final stage of the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship – qualified Canada for the second edition of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
That qualification, along with the subsequent victory on 10 players over Mexico in the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship final, marked the highlight of Canada’s 2010 youth teams’ season.
USA was a force with which to be reckoned – or so everyone feared after Canada lost its group while USA closed out the opposite group with a 10:0 victory over host Costa Rica. The two CONCACAF powers, who had met in three previous youth championship finals at the U-20 level, were now scheduled to meet in the semi-final stage in the U-17 age category.
The Canadian staff, led by head coach Bryan Rosenfeld, carefully crafted its game plan. It was then up to the players, who led by captain Nicole Setterlund shut down the American offence for 120 minutes. After both sides settled for a 0:0 draw, Canada won on kicks from penalty mark to qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Trinidad and Tobago 2010.
In the championship final at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica, Canada went up 1-0 on a Kinley McNicoll goal in the 8th minute, but then went down to 10 players in the 56th minute after Yazmin Ongtengco was shown her second yellow card. Canada held out for the 1:0 victory to claim its fifth CONCACAF youth title, the third on the women’s youth side.
In 2010, Canada’s women’s U-17 team’s overall record was eight wins, three draws and four losses. At the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, Canada was eliminated in group play after an 0:2 loss to CONMEBOL champion Brazil.
At the women’s U-20 level, Canada posted a record of three wins and two losses, finishing fourth at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in January. Playing without its top player Jonelle Filigno and weakened by a roster swamped by the flu, Canada failed to score in its final two matches and was eliminated before the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
On the men’s side, both the men’s U-20 and men’s U-17 teams began preparations for the 2011 qualification tournaments. Canada will participate in the CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship in April and the CONCACAF Men’s U-17 Championship in February.
In 2010, the Canadian U-20 Players of the Year were Jonelle Filigno and Ethan Gage; the Canadian U-17 Players of the Year were Diamond Simpson and Bryce Alderson. Canada’s four youth coaches are Valerio Gazzola (men’s U-20, players born 1991 or later), Sean Fleming (men’s U-17, players born 1994 or later), Carolina Morace (women’s U-20, switching in 2011 to players born 1992 or later), and Bryan Rosenfeld (women’s U-17, switching in 2011 to players born 1995 or later). The title sponsor for Canada’s two U-17 teams is BMO Financial Group.
Along with the four official youth teams, Canada also operated in 2010 three youth development teams: a women’s U-18 team (led by coach Morace, featuring those players born 1992 or later), a women’s U-15 team (led by coach David Benning), and a men’s U-15 team (led by coach Ray Clark).
Canada’s national youth teams have won five CONCACAF championships – the 1986 and 1996 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championships, the 2004 and 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championships, and the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship. Canada has participated in eight FIFA U-20 World Cups (1979, 1985, 1987, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007), four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups (2002 silver, 2004, 2006 and 2008), four FIFA U-17 World Cups (1987, 1989, 1993 and 1995), and two FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (2008, 2010).
Overall in 2010, Canada operated camps for seven youth teams: the men’s U-20, men’s U-17, men’s U-15, women’s U-20, women’s U-18, women’s U-17, and women’s U-15 teams.