As a girl, she wrote it down and as a woman she made it happen.
Kelowna’s star soccer player Stefanie Young has officially made her dreams of playing professional soccer a reality after a record-breaking year with the UBC Okanagan Heat.
For as long as she can remember, Young has been infatuated with the sport. Her parents met on the soccer pitch as competitive athletes themselves and she was practically dribbling the ball while still drooling.
“I started playing before I can remember… Growing up I was around soccer before I could walk,” said Young.
Raised in an athletic family, Young played every sport that she could. Despite her time on the volleyball, basketball and field hockey courts, she always knew that soccer was her true passion.
She said that her parents modelled the value of hard work, dedication and working towards big goals for herself and her older brother.
In Grade 4, Young wrote an essay for a school assignment where students were asked to look ahead at their future. In the handwritten essay–which included some cute spelling mistakes– Young proclaimed that she had a dream of becoming a professional soccer player.
“Some day I wish I could be a perfesanl (sic) soccer player. Right now I’m training really hard so that I could live my dream of coming a perfesanl(sic) soccer player,” wrote Young, in elementary school.
“I also can’t wait till University because I can graduate and live my dream of becoming a perfesanl(sic) soccer player just like Lionel Messi,” wrote Young.
Sitting down for an interview on UBCO’s campus beside a score-board-sized poster of Young playing soccer she smiled and said, “My 10-year-old self would be so proud.”
Just days prior, Young signed her first professional contract with Treaty United in Ireland’s Women’s Premier Division League for the 2024 season.
“One thing that really solidified my decision in going to Treaty was talking with the CEO Ciara McCormack… I’m excited to get the opportunity to showcase my abilities in a foreign country and focus on the sport I love so much.”
When asked what it was like to break the news to her family, Young said that everyone was excited and happy for her.
“They know all I’ve ever wanted to do is play soccer.”
Despite her success, Young’s journey to becoming a professional athlete was not without hardships and setbacks.
After high school, Young started her university career halfway across the country, in Manitoba.
COVID-19 quickly derailed her forward momentum and she moved back to Kelowna during lockdowns.
As restrictions lifted, Young began practising with the UBCO Heat soccer team and quickly she realized that living in the Okanagan with her friends and family would best set her up for success on the pitch. She said that the coaches and their philosophies towards training are one of the things that drew her to the UBCO program.
During the first season of varsity competition after lockdowns, Young injured her knee in a game. Despite the pain, she played on the injured knee for the remainder of the season knowing that it would likely require surgery and a long recovery.
She had torn her meniscus on the same leg before and was all too familiar with the surgery and recovery process. To ensure proper recovery, Young did not play with the Heat during the 2022/23 season.
That summer, she was invited to play in a high-performance league in Ontario, where she was able to regain confidence in her newly repaired knee.
Then came Young’s record-breaking season.
In 2023, Young broke the single-season scoring record for the Heat with 14 goals. During the year, she recorded three hat-tricks, helping the Heat reach the Canada West Quarter-finals for the first time in program history.
Young will board her flight overseas after finishing the final exams of her Human Kinetics degree in the spring.
“I’m so excited for the culture surrounding soccer and to be among other soccer fans.”
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