WINDSOR, ONT. -- Nine-year-old Isabelle Sakalo is in the finals for a worldwide competition on soccer drills.
Sakalo is a member of the LSsalle Stompers soccer club, but plays on their competitive team, the Michigan Jaguars.
With the pandemic idling soccer clubs, and the border closed to non-essential travel, Sakalo finds herself with some time on her hands.
So she entered The Challenge Cup, put on by The Football Development Centre out of the United Kingdom.
Over the past six weeks, Sakalo’s parents, Brad and Marjorie, have been shooting and sending short video clips of their daughter doing drills.
Some show the soccer player hitting a ball off the top of a pylon from far away.
She has now beat more than 60 other players, in her age division and is one of two finalists for the Championships set for Sunday.
“I entered this to stay busy and challenge myself during this Covid time,” says Sakalo
“I feel amazing about making it to the finals.”
It’s also an amazing feat, Sakalo is the only girl left and the sole Canadian remaining in the competition.
Part of her final challenge is do as many ball “juggles” as possible in a minute. Last time she did it, Sakalo juggled 126 times!
She should know by Monday morning if her final tricks is good enough to be the best U8-U9 soccer player in the competition.
