LFC ready to soak in Halifax experience

By Lethbridge Herald on July 30, 2025.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward Lethbridge Football Club U17 boys' Zander McClung attempts to kick the ball while in the air during a practice last week.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Two Lethbridge Football Club U17 teams kick off their national stage experience in the  Maritimes today at the Canada Youth Cup (CYC)National Showcase in Halifax.

LFC will  play other teams in the country  and could be playing in  front of post-secondary and professional teams and be evaluated and scouted for possible future endeavours in the sport.

Players with get a snippet of university life while playing.

“They’ll hopefully  be looked at by some scouts from different universities and colleges in the country, as  a lot of them are graduating and getting ready to move on,” said Janet Clamp, LFC U17 girls head coach.

Clamp wants to see the team come out of the showcase with a positive experience and make memories through their friendships.

“As a team, we’re hoping that they find a chance to get four games that are close together and competitive, and that allows them to grow their team play and prepares them well for Alberta provincials,” said Clamp.

About half of LFC’s current U15 squad and  U17 squads experienced the USA Cup in Minnesota last summer and it turned out to be  good preparation for Halifax.

“It’s not new to them to face somebody that they haven’t known and I think that’s big,” said Clamp.

Brynn Leschert saw the opportunity when LFC found they were going to Halifax as a big motivator to push themselves during this season.

“Just showing what we’ve created here in Lethbridge,” said Leschert, on what she wants to get out of the experience.

“We’ve done some good stuff with the resources that we have, and it’ll be really exciting to show that to some people on the coast out there.”

Taylor McLaren spoke about how to play through the distraction of university scouts.

“Just playing as a team and  supporting each other because when you play good as a team, it can show individuals well and it just makes everyone look (good),” said McLaren.

Roberto Paoletti, LFC U17 boys head coach, will be curious as to  how other  team’s approach their speed.

“It’ll be very  interesting to see how things differ because we’ve only played Calgary essentially, a little bit of Edmonton … and our styles are very similar,” said Paoletti.

Paoletti had a simple answer when it comes to the U17 boys success in Halifax.

“Definitely putting balls in the net, that’s been a struggle for us,” said Paoletti.

“If we can get a few goals, that helps our confidence out and definitely let’s these guys play a little looser.”

“There’s a lot of talent out there, I know that, and it’s going to be exciting to see what they can do,” said Nathan Adamson, LFC U17 boys goalie.

LFC also sent a  boys and girls team at the U15 level.

The Canada Youth Cup runs July 31 to Aug. 4 and the schedule can be found at http://www.canadayouthcup.com/schedule.