Navy Louma will take another exciting step forward in her soccer career this spring when she suits up in the Prairies Premier League’s inaugural season.
Louma, 17, will play for the Saskatchewan Excel in the brand new pro-am league that will feature six men’s and six women’s teams in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario.
“I am pretty excited. I think it will be a great opportunity, not just for me, but for everyone, because it will just bring so many more opportunities to Saskatchewan. It’s going to be easier for younger players to get to the next level like U Sports of League 1 like I’m about to do. I’m honestly excited for the new opportunity.”
The PPL is intended to serve as a stepping stone from the high-performance youth level to the elite amateur and professional levels.
“I’m expecting a really high level. Although it is the first year, seeing all the signings there’s a bunch of university players and people coming back from the states. I know on my team we already have two players that are already playing Division 1 down in the states. I’m expecting big competition, very physical, very aggressive. I think it’s going to be really fast,” said Louma.
Louma’s team will be a combination of her current Excel teammates and alumni that are playing university and college soccer across Canada and in the United States.
“How Excel works is usually we are a development team. So we want to win, but we’re more focused on developing our players. But in this league we are looking to win and we’re looking to place the best we can. I think it will be a lot more fun just to see what our team can do when we’re all pushing hard and we have all these alumni coming back. I think we have a really high bar this season.”
The PPL league will feature a 10-game regular season. Saskatchewan Excel will open the season on May 13 when they face QC United in Regina. The women’s league also features three teams from Winnipeg and the Thunder Bay Chill.
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