Ainsley Grether (AG), a Sun Peaks-born athlete, has been named captain of the WolfPack Women’s Soccer Team for the 24-25 season. Her dedication to the team and efforts towards achieving the highest levels have been highlighted in her career. The Omega had the opportunity to speak with Grether on her path toward captaincy and her journey into her final year at TRU.
Omega: Can you begin with your journey to becoming captain of the women’s soccer team?
AG: Timeline-wise, my first year was in the 2018-19 season. I played that season and one after; then, I left the team the following year. When I came back, I kind of just came back with no expectations. I came back just because I missed soccer. I wasn’t in school the year before, so I came back like ‘guns-a-blazing’ after that summer with Rivers FC. I played Rivers [FC] that summer in its first year and then decided I was still really keen to play soccer. I came back to TRU and asked Mark [Pennington], Hey, can I come back to the team? And then I just fell into almost an assistant captain role with our old captain, Cameron Kurtz, who’s an alumni now. [Kurtz] left that year; that was her final year, and then Mark passed the torch on to me.
Omega: What does being a captain mean for you?
AG: I think it’s not so much as an award to me. It’s more so like a job. I take it very seriously. For me, it’s not about my achievements and what I’ve done here, it’s more like how I’ve helped the collective of TRU soccer. When I came here, the program was definitely not where it is now. It was pretty beat down and needed some strong players and some really strong leadership, and I think that was part of it. I’m super honoured to have become a captain over the last couple of years here, but, for me, being a leader on the team was about making sure that everybody else had a better time than me.
Omega: Has your game or play changed since becoming captain? How so?
AG: I think deep down in my heart, I’m always holding myself to that kind of leadership style or standard, whether I wear the armband on the team or not. For me, as a captain just honestly, as myself, it’s all about showing up and doing my job to the best of my abilities. And that’s kind of whatever is demanded of me for the day.
Omega: Who has been your biggest inspiration throughout your soccer career? And why?
AG: That’s a tough one. I mean, player-wise, there are so many players that I follow and love. My favourite player, I’m a big Liverpool fan, and Luis Suarez was the first player I really liked, and then I would say Steven Gerrard; they are kind of my one and two. In the women’s game, I like Lauren James now. She plays for Chelsea. She’s a baller, so those are like my three … but I honestly am inspired just by the people around me. I think Cameron Kurtz, our old captain, had a big impact on my career here. She just was so passionate, and I hope that I can emulate that feeling that she gave me. I hope I can give that to other girls.
Omega: Why do you think it’s important for TRU students to come and support the team?
AG: When I think back to my first year in women’s soccer, it just didn’t have the excitement it has now. Personally, [I] love to play with the crowd, like our celebrations are huge. We have all the other teams that come out and watch, and TRU, since I started here versus now, the collective just gets closer and closer every year. Each team wants to support every other team more and more and more. The program here does a really good job at tying in the student affiliations to the WolfPack affiliations because we are just students at the end of the day, and some of us kick a ball, and some of us throw a ball, and it’s not that deep. We just want to have fun doing it, and we want other students to be able to get a little piece of that enjoyment as well.
Omega: What are you looking forward to in your last year with the team?
AG: I’m really grateful for the first quarter of our season here. I just am loving it so much. Win or lose, I go out to the field, and I just get to enjoy it because I know, hey, I’ve put in my time here with this program that now this year just feels like a reward. I’m much more confident with who I am and in my abilities. I think this group that we have now is pretty darn good, and I keep speaking to them every day about really holding true to our vision this year. I think last year we maybe lost it a little bit. I picture us with the CanWest banner. I picture the banner in our gym and our HPC above the weights, Women’s Soccer 2024, and that will send us to nationals. And honestly, that’s what I’m most excited about because I can envision it. I hope that this group is the group that I get to achieve that with.
Grether will continue representing TRU’s WolfPack at home and away for the remainder of the season. The schedule information can be found on the WolfPack website.