The familiarity factor was the clincher for high school soccer senior Sarah Zuccaro.
The 17-year-old from Nanaimo has committed to the UNBC Timberwolves women's team for next season, which will reunite her with T-wolves head coach Neil Sedgwick, who coached her in youth soccer.
"I really enjoyed Neil's coaching growing up," said Zuccaro, a Grade 12 student at Dover Bay secondary school in Nanaimo. "I think he is doing a really good job of developing a team that will be very strong in the near future. Throughout the seasons I had him coach my team, we didn't start as a strong team, but by season's end, we were up competing with everyone else."
Zuccaro has proven throughout her minor soccer career she can play virtually any position and she'll be willing to earn her stripes as a university athlete wherever the T-wolves want her to play.
"I've generally been moved around," said Zuccaro, who plans to study integrated science at UNBC. "Every time I got a new coach, I would be put in a new spot. I didn't ask for it, but I was put there and I was able to play there. I think it has really helped me."
She's established a reputation for her unwillingness to back down from physical challenges on the field and is looking forward to maintaining that approach playing as a Canada West rookie for a T-wolves team which qualified for the playoffs for the first time in UNBC's six-year U Sports/CIS history.
"I will not take a hit from someone unless they want to receive one back," she told UNBC sports information officer Rich Abney. "I'm aggressive and I like to yell, and play hard. I am a perfectionist, and I will work the entire team. I enjoy the game."
