Courtesy: Fort McMurray Today


Athlete of the weeK: April Weigelt

by Trevor Howlett

April Weigelt is off to a great start in the sport of futsal.

The Fort McMurray native played in her first organized games of the indoor soccer variation this past weekend in the first ACAC tournament of the year at Keyano College.

The women’s Huskies came away with the silver medal with Weigelt scoring the lone goal against eventual winner Mount Royal University Cougars.

In total, Weigelt scored five goals at the ACAC tourney: two against MRU in the round robin, one against olds, one against Medicine Hat College in the semi-finals and her goal in the gold medal game.

“She did well, she works hard from whistle to whistle,” said Huskies women’s futsal coach Ian Diaz.

“She is one of those girls that doesn’t say anything back, she just goes out there and does her job and this whole weekend she found a new job and that’s scoring goals. She gets to the net and goes hard and she was great at controlling the ball.”

On the Huskies soccer team last fall, the Composite High School grad played defense, but on the futsal team she plays forward.

Weigelt also played three years of basketball with Keyano for the Huskies.

Because the basketball schedule interferes with futsal, she hadn’t had the chance to play the sport unlike some of the other ACAC soccer players.

So far, her first impressions of the sport are good because she has easily transitioned to the fast-paced no-contact game.

“It’s pretty fun, it’s fast-paced so it’s good,” said Weigelt.

“Since I’m an ex-basketball player it’s no different from that, it’s just with your feet instead of your hands. Similar rotation and offense and the transition isn’t very different, so I like it.”

While Weigelt may be new at futsal, for her teammates and coach, she’s playing the same role that she brings on the field in every game.

“April performs the same every time. She’s kind of like our captain actually — her and Jamie (Hannigan),” said Huskies soccer/futsal player Brittany Buist.

“I feel like a lot of the girls look up to her; she goes hard all the time and never quits. I know if I’m passing to her she’ll always get there.”

“She brings that consistency every single time,” said Diaz.

“In outdoor she plays in the back and she’s solid and strong and she brings the same thing here.”

The next ACAC futsal tournament is coming up Feb. 10 at Mount Royal University in Calgary.

Name: April Weigelt

Team: Keyano College Huskies women’s futsal team

Position: Forward

Hometown: Fort McMurray

Program: Physical Education

Year: 4

Height: 5’8”

Personal Motto: “Go with the flow”

Career Highlight: Winning silver in her first futsal tournament this past weekend

Career Goal: “In real life I originally wanted to do physiotherapy but now I think I will switch to massage therapy.”




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com