Vernon grad off to Winnipeg for next challenge

May 26, 2020 | 5:31 PM

Tori Hauptman put in her research and her work before deciding what the next best step was for her soccer career.

Hauptman, a midfielder from Vernon, has announced her commitment to Amy Anderson’s UWinnipeg Wesmen women’s soccer team as part of the 2020 recruiting class.

Hauptman, who studied at Clarence Fulton Secondary School and comes from the Thompson Okanagan Football Club, took an official visit to Winnipeg earlier this year and attended a Wesmen ID camp. She said she attended a number of post-secondary ID camps before deciding that a move away to Winnipeg was the right move.

TOFC is a regional program that competes in the B.C. Soccer Premier League, the highest level of youth soccer in the province.

Hauptman said she inquired with a number of schools and specifically sought out those that were also the right fit academically.

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She will enroll in the Faculty of Kinesiology and have five years of eligibility.

“I started looking at the schools I was interested in and thought Winnipeg sounds fun. As if Vernon isn’t cold enough, let’s move to Winnipeg,” she joked. “I sent out emails and visited ID camps and eventually found the one that I was interested in.”

Hauptman is a traditional box-to-box midfielder who Anderson lauded for not only her physical skills but also her mental acuity.

“I see the field well and I think I’m very smart on the field,” Hauptman said. “I know where the ball is going before I get it. I know what’s going to happen and have good anticipation. A lot of people would see me as a leader. I have a strong voice and I like to take charge and make sure everything is going good.”

Anderson echoed that assessment of her newest recruit’s skillset.

“Tori is coming to us with a strong soccer IQ,” she said. “She is disciplined and motivated on and off the field. She brings a technical and game awareness to our team and we’re very happy to have Tori join our program.”

Hauptman is confident in her ability to jump to the university game. Her TOFC teams scrimmaged this past season with other post-secondary programs and also did a tour of England against semi-pro teams.

Now she’s excited about her newest challenge.

“I get to make a new family,” she said.

Hauptman joins a recruiting class that to date includes fullbacks Rachel Bridle, Mira Cerilli Koroluk, and Jessica Munoz, and forward/midfielders Sydney Butler, Enya Bukvic, Izzy Myco, and Jazmyn Castro.

by David Larkins, Wesmen Athletics

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