Living her passion one season at a time.
That is what Emilie Toews is doing each year when she is playing soccer for Kings University in Edmonton. Toews, a graduate of St. Anthony’s school in Drumheller, will be returning to the university in the fall as captain for the second year.
Toews returned to St. Anthony’s on Monday June 8 as the guest speaker for the seventh annual sports banquet. She spoke to the students about how she got to the point she is at today.
She told the Mail she began playing soccer when she was in grade nine, coached by Gavin Makse and also for the U-16 league team in Drumheller.
After a couple of seasons with the U-16 team, Toews began commuting to Airdrie to play for a team there and later extended that commute to Calgary. Both of these teams were U-18, she said.
She said her first day on the field at Kings University was “terrifying.”
“I didn’t know what to expect. The very first day we tried out, we went right into fitness testing.”
She explained that she was required to complete cooper testing which was to see how far she could run in 12 minutes and she placed second in both returning players and rookies.
“It was really scary but all the girls on the team are super nice and the coach really made me feel at home there, so the first day wasn’t as hard as I was expecting,” she said.
In Toews first season at Kings she scored a goal and was named player of the game, during her second season she scored another goal and was named player of the game twice and received Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the team. In her third season, she got four goals, putting her as the second highest all time scorer for the women’s side of the school. She said she also received the all conference award, which is the all-star team for northern Alberta, the team leadership award, and athlete of the year for the university. This was also the season that Toews was captain for the first time, which she said was a big accomplishment for her.
“I’ve never been a captain on any youth team I’ve been on, so it was a really big surprise for me to be asked to be put in that situation,” she said.
When it came to who helped Toews move forward in her career she said, “my parents were definitely key, especially my dad. They were the ones who encouraged me that if I wanted to keep playing soccer they would happily drive me to Calgary three or four times a week for practices and games.”
“Soccer is just something I kind of picked up and I ended up loving it,” she explained. “My dad didn’t play soccer growing up, but he loved it so he was the one who was always pushing me to be on a better team or be captain of this team. I didn’t really have any soccer heroes growing up, but in grade 11 it was definitely Leo Messi who plays for FC Barcelona. I knew I would never be at his level because he is the best in the world, but he loved soccer and he came from Argentina playing soccer on the street, so I figured I could at least play university soccer,” she said.
It isn’t just all soccer at Kings University for Toews though. She is taking a Bachelor in Biology with a minor in music.
When asked if she had ever thought about playing for the Canadian national women’s soccer team she said, “I have thought about it, but I know I’m not at that level and I know it would take a lot to get there.” She continued saying the women’s professional soccer players only make about $6000 a year and that isn’t realistic for her, because she wants to continue school and become a vet.
