Sarah Sparrow '22 Recruiting Profile

I am no longer looking for a US or Canadian school; I have accepted a place to study Football Coaching & Management at University Campus for Football Business at Wembley in the UK. 

I am an 18 year old soccer player in Canada. I was scheduled to spend a month in England in Spring 2020 to train and trial with a number of Women's Super League and Women's Championship Academies (U21 and U18) ahead of the 2020 season, however this has been delayed due to COVID-19. I maintain contact with these Academy head coaches, and will be travelling to trial when it is safe to do so. Summer of 2020 I trained with League 1 Ontario champions Oakville Blue Devils, however the League 1 season was cancelled due to COVID. I plan to study Sports Business Management for Football. 

I am an intelligent and tactically-minded player, with a strong soccer IQ. I enjoy being challenged, and excel when placed in high-pressure situations. I am a dangerous player on and off the ball, who loves playing on the wing, and takes pride not only in scoring goals, but in setting them up for my team mates. I am naturally left footed, but also very strong on my right. 

I have had the pleasure of attending several camps and invitational training sessions. In 2019 this included the University of North Carolina Girls College Bound camp in Chapel Hill, NC (where I was a camp All-Star and my team held the UNC Varsity team to 1-0 in a friendly match), and invited training sessions with Ryerson University Women's team, London City Lionesses U19 Academy (London, UK) and Arsenal’s Player Development Program (London, UK). 

I aspire to play professionally in Europe or the USA, and hopefully have the opportunity to represent Canada. I also have aspirations to soccer management after I retire as a player, and want to be the first female manager in the EPL. 

For as long as I can remember I was kicking the ball with my dad and his best friend. I played Timbits soccer in Winnipeg starting when I was 4, and then when I was living in England at age 7, I was scouted by Millwall FC Lionesses Girls Centre of Excellence to train with their U9 academy, where I trained weekly with Lou Waller and Sinead Fitzsimmons. 

I returned to Canada later that summer, and began technical training with Eduardo Badescu at WSA Winnipeg (PDL), as well as playing for FC NorthWest in their LTPD (2003 & 2004’s) and Elite Academy (2003’s). I was lucky enough to be invited to Chievo Verona’s National camp in Rome, GA at age 9, and then at age 10 was a part of the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy’s first ever residency camp for girls in Vancouver, BC. In Winnipeg, I was selected by Manitoba Soccer to attend the FIFA Live Your Goals festival training related to the 2015 Women's World Cup. I was also invited to be a part of the Vancouver Whitecaps Regional Manitoba REX Program after attending 2 of 3 screening sessions, however I unfortunately had to decline, as I moved to Toronto that autumn. Upon moving to Toronto at age 11, I played first with Power FC on their boys’ team, and then moved for a season to London Youth Whitecaps, where I worked under Mike Ayyash and his team of coaches to be a part of their Academy and the Vancouver Whitecaps High Potential Player program. In the autumn of 2017 I was invited to be a part of the 2018 Ontario Soccer Provincial Projects for 2004 girls, along with signing to Vaughan Soccer Club’s OPDL squad under Jason Beckford, Sergio De Luca, and Jorden Feliciano. In 2019 I was invited to the Ontario Soccer Provincial Project for 2004 girls once again, under head coach Dave Kelly, and continued with Vaughan OPDL, rostered to the 2004 team and called upon to support the 2003’s, including at key tournaments such as the 2018 Ontario Summer Games for the OPDL Cup Finals, and at the 2019 Puma Blue Chip showcase. 

I also work one-on-one with trainer Daniel Dalla Rosa at Kinetic Impressions on High Performance athletic development and Adrian Doyle at Doyle Soccer School for small group sessions focused on finishing. 

For grades 9 and 10 I was a part of the Birchmount Exceptional Athletes Program (BEAP) at Birchmount Collegiate, an invitational program to support the development of athletes working in various sports at the Provincial level or higher prepare throughout high school for scholarships and career in professional sport by studying nutrition and training as part of the curriculum. In order to focus more on my training opportunities, I transitioned to Ontario Virtual School in grade 10, which enables me to work at my own pace, from anywhere in the world. I plan to study Sports Management & Administration at university, and play in preparation for a professional career.