Brianna Jassmann will be realizing her childhood dream across the Rockies next September.
The South Delta Secondary Grade 12 student has officially signed with the University of Calgary women’s soccer team as part of its 2022 recruiting class.
“I had a couple of Zoom calls with them and it all happened pretty fast,” smiled the attacking midfield standout. “It was just crazy when I got the offer as I was like ‘oh my god’ this is everything I have been working for since I was four-years-old. I have always wanted to go to university and play soccer. If I want to be a professional soccer player, this was the thing I needed to do. Basically, all of my dreams just came true.”
Jassmann was playing in the B.C. Premier Soccer League with Coastal F.C. before moving over to the Richmond-based Total Soccer System Academy and its Rovers women’s program under director Kevin Booker. It has a reputation off sending players to the next level. The Rovers are part of the Metro Women’s Soccer League during the fall season, giving Jassmann the opportunity to play older competition.
It was SDSS teacher and soccer coach Stephen Burns who helped her connect with Dinos’ head coach Troye Flannery over the summer and initiate the recruiting process. Jassmann didn’t have to look far for additional information on the Calgary program either.
Second-year Dino Breanne Gallagher is not only her former Sun Devil teammate, she had a close connection with Jassmann back in 2019, the last time there was a high school soccer season. The Calgary football program is also loaded with SDSS graduates.
“I know people from other teams and stuff that went to TSS and have gone on to play university and it was a big thing that helped me with this whole process,” she said. “Breanne was a big help too. She was like amazing. We were ‘big buddies’ on the school soccer team. It was the ‘B-squared’ thing that was going on.
“Part of (going to Calgary) is being close to home and knowing there were (friends) I would already know at the school, just from the South Delta community. I have never moved out anywhere before. It will make it lot more easy to settle in and everything knowing they have the same connections as me.”
She admits pursuing her goal amid the pandemic has not been easy, dealing with everything from cancelled games and tournaments, to limited training for the past 18 months.
“I knew it would be a challenge, a different way to get to the same spot. Training was very individual based. Training in masks in our separate bubbles. That was the difficult part as soccer is obviously a team sport,” continued Jassmann.
She is a terrific all-round athlete who earlier played on the school’s volleyball and basketball teams while thriving as a cross-country runner too. She is hoping to get an opportunity to be a key member of the soccer team next spring after missing out on her grade 10 and 11 years due to COVID-19.
“That’s what I’m praying for. Now I get to be one of the ‘big buddies.’ It is just so much fun,” she laughed. “Honestly, some girls come out of soccer ‘retirement’ just to be part of that environment.”
