The St. Albert 2011 Impact PDP team brought back bronze after competing in the 2025 Solar International Girls Cup in McKinney, Texas.
The Solar International Girls Cup is the largest and most competitive tournament in the U.S., taking place from April 16 to 20. Elite teams from across the U.S., Denmark, Colombia, Mexico, the Netherlands, France and Canada attended.
This was the team's third international tournament.
"So we've done New York and then North Carolina, and now we went to Texas," said head coach Eric Munoz. "I think the tournaments actually got harder, but we actually were competing better, so that was a positive."
Lanna Thomsen, Sadie Weum and Cohen Glenday, three members of the team, explained that soccer teams in the U.S. play at a higher level than in Canada.
"The training level in the U.S. and even Texas is just a different level," said Weum. "So it kind of motivates us to elevate our level back in Canada."
The team plays year-round; however, playing in a different location, such as Texas, added some additional challenges.
"It was so hot and windy, and that's like, something that we don't really have to deal with here," said Thomsen. "So it's good to get out of our comfort zone there."
Despite not having the same level of teams to play against in Canada, Weum says they try to bring the same energy they have in games to all their practices and other games to reach the level of the U.S. teams when they play internationally.
"Well, our goal in the tournament was just to improve our international standing," said Weum. "I think we could have done better, honestly, like, just it was a little bit disappointing, but also, I think there's some mixed emotions, because we were, we were glad that we placed third, but also we feel like we could have done more."
Thomsen echoed her statement, saying that even though she thought they could have done better, it felt good to represent Canada.
Between games, the team was able to visit nearby universities, giving them an idea of where they could go in the future.
"We tour universities, and it's really good to see what we can do and what our potential options might be, what we can grow into and the possibilities of soccer and what we're able to do if we train to the standard that we want to train at," said Weum.
Munoz said the aim is to always try to get to nationals so that the girls can gain exposure within Canada. Then, based on the girls' ambitions, they try to expose them to other areas of interest.
"So if it's NCAA D1 [National Collegiate Athletic Association, division one] or if it's the pro life or Whitecaps or whatever, I think that's the kind of exposure we'll look to give them," said Munoz.
Thomsen said that being given the opportunity to travel and play in other locations helps show them what options they have in the future.
Glenday seconds this, saying that the U.S. has many advantages for women's soccer, such as the facilities that are available to them.
"I think the exposure for women's soccer there [U.S.], like, there's a lot of money poured into it, and people support it there," said Glenday. "It's just good to see tons of girls, like our age and older, like being able to play the sport they love."
