The UBC Okanagan Heat women鈥檚 soccer team added another strong piece to the 2017 recruiting class with the commitment of centre midfielder Kacee Ougden.
The 5-foot-3, Grade 12 student from Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary will look to help her new team build on a strong 2016 season where the Heat made the playoffs.
Signing her letter of intent last November, the Cloverdale resident told coach Heat head coach Craig Smith, 鈥淚 get to play out my dream of playing University Soccer.鈥�
For his part, Smith is happy to have Ougden on board.
鈥淧leased that Kacee has decided to join us next year, she is a good technician who can play well between lines and hurt the opposition,鈥� Smith said.
Bilingual after her french immersion schooling, she will be studying both Human Kinetics and French with the goal of becoming a French Physical Education Teacher.
Not just happy to be in 91大黄鸭 fulfilling her dream, Ougden also has big on-field goals in mind. The playmaker hopes to achieve All-Canadian status during her time in the Okanagan.
Success and opportunity on the field and the potential in the classroom drew the Lord Tweedsmuir star to UBC鈥檚 Okanagan campus. She based her decision not fully on soccer but also on the ability to obtain her diploma at one of the best universities in Canada.
Two other reasons she chose UBCO were the ability for her to develop under head coach Craig Smith and the rest of the coaching staff, including assistant Carli Tingstad as she noted that 鈥淐raig cemented my decision,鈥� and the opportunity to be a part of the Heat鈥檚 growth in the Canada West Conference made the choice all the easier.
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Her playing resume includes being on the TSS FC Black Women鈥檚 select A team in 2016-17 and the TSS FC Black Women鈥檚 premier league spring team in 2016. She was voted the 鈥渕ost inspirational player鈥� by her teammates in 2015. She also won two high school Fraser Valley Championships in Grades Eight and Nine while at Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary.
Ougden will have some familiarity when coming to the Okanagan at the end of summer as her TSS Football Club teammate Jillian Hunt is also part of coach Smith鈥檚 2017 recruiting class.
