The Trinity Western women’s soccer team bolstered its already dynamic forward unit with its first major recruit signing of the year as coach Graham Roxburgh announced that striker Seina Kashima of Burnaby will be joining the Spartans this fall.
The 5-2 Kashima, who will graduate from Burnaby South Secondary this season, will join the two-time defending CIS champions with a wealth of experience at both the club level, most recently with Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite, and the provincial level, with Team BC.
She is coming off an incredible 2013 campaign in which she won a gold medal with Team B.C. at the Canada Summer Games, while also helping the Whitecaps capture top spot at Sweden’s Gothia World Youth Cup in the girls’ under-19 division. The Gothia Cup is the largest soccer tournament in the world in terms of participants, with over 1,500 teams competing in various age groups each year.
Along with her achievements at the Canada Summer Games and in Sweden, Kashima’s 2013 campaign also saw her help the Whitecaps to the Metro Women’s Soccer League regular season and cup titles, as well as the McAdams Cup, which is a Cascadia-area champion’s cup, and both the Pacific Coast Soccer League regular season and cup titles.
Prior to joining the Whitecaps as a u-17 player, Kashima played her u-16 soccer with Mountain United FC, and in 2012 she helped her team win the provincial premier cup, while being named the MVP of the championship match.
“We are absolutely delighted that Seina is joining our program,” Roxburgh said in a school press release. “She is a dynamic player, who will add many attacking options to our squad. She has pace, can play in multiple attacking positions and can both score and create goals.
“She has impressed me in so many ways, both in terms of her ability on the field but, more importantly, in who she is. She is full of character and humility and carries so many of the qualities we look for when we recruit players to our program. Seina has the ability to impact our team in many dimensions right away and we are so excited about the future of our program with players and people like Seina joining us.”
Academically, Kashima, who plans to study education at TWU, has been an honour roll student throughout high school.
“I really like Trinity Western’s small community feel and the fact it is a Christian-based school,” Kashima said. “It’s a place I believe I can not only grow as a player but also as a person and in my faith.”
