Women’s soccer teams across Western Canada have a new option to get ready for their season, thanks to the Ooks. For the first time, NAIT has invited teams to the Ooks Invitational Exhibition Series to face off in a series of preseason games.
The exhibition matches take place from Aug. 14 to 17 and will feature multiple programs from the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association and U SPORTS’ Canada West conference. Among some of the teams confirmed by the Ooks include the MacEwan Griffins, Lethbridge Kodiaks, Calgary Dinos and UNBC Timberwolves.
The event was planned by NAIT women’s soccer head coach Dhee Govender, who found teams to participate in the invitational.
“It’s all for preseason preparation,” said Govender. “We want to get some competitive games, you know, we want to be able to see opponents that we don’t see in our regular season.” NAIT typically plays against other teams in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference; some of their regular opponents will be at the series, but the Ooks haven’t played against a team like MacEwan since 2014 when the Griffins joined U SPORTS.
The series will also serve as an opportunity for coaches and programs to meet in one location during a portion of their preseasons.
“We coaches are always out and about scouting … essentially we are all in the same boat trying to prepare for our seasons,” Govender added.
While teams are focused on getting ready for their upcoming season, Govender believes the opportunity will be “extremely valuable” for the Ooks to match up against some U SPORTS programs.
“We have 12 programs, including us, that will be partaking … to have that quality of programs within our exhibition series is great for all teams,” he explained. “Overall, I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”
Ooks hope to host again
With it being the Ooks’ first year running the invitational, Govender left the door open for the program to host again, with the possibility of adding more teams.
“We’ve put the legwork in this year, it’s taken us a good year to plan this event … we’re hoping that we can have some success with it and then potentially looking at hosting again next year,” he shared. “And then, you never know, we can potentially look to attract programs that are not a part of it this year.”
The Ooks will also be hosting an equipment drive with Sport Central Alberta in partnership with the invitational series throughout the four days.
The games will take place at the Millennium Place outdoor soccer fields to prepare the Ooks for their season start against the Concordia Thunder on Sept. 6.
Feature image via NAIT Ooks
