Cloverdale soccer player Rylee Singleterry is set to continue her career with the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack.
The high-school senior, who attends Clayton Heights Secondary, signed a letter of intent to play at the Kamloops university, TRU announced in a news release last week. Singleterry plays out of Richmond’s TSS Soccer Academy, and will join Thompson Rivers’ program in August.
“Landing Rylee in our class of 2018 is exciting for us,” said Wolpack head coach Kelly Shantz.
“TSS kids are well-versed on a wide range of skills and that is pretty rare these days. Rylee is typically an outside defender and has shown to be solid technically, unafraid of the physical demands of the position and has a real flair for jumping into the attack and joining the office, which is something we need to improve a lot on this year.”
Singleterry made a visit to the school back in February, and said TRU’s campus and stadium helped sway her into signing with the team. She had also been considering UBC Okanagan, University of the Fraser Valley and Ontario’s Wilfrid Laurier University, the release notes.
“What I found most appealing… was the athletic facility and the team was very welcoming,” she said. “I felt comfortable right away.”
Last season, Singleterry helped her TSS squad win the Metro Women’s Soccer League’s Select ‘A’ Cup.
Brendan Quarry, the girls technical director at TSS, said the young defender “had a raw athleticism about her” when they first discovered her at a weekend camp.
“Rylee has exceptional ability which helps her do some very dynamic things on the field,” said Quarry.
“Whenever she’s brimming in self-belief, she can terrorize defenders with her stop and starts and changes in speed. She can also settle a ball down out of the air effortlessly, which continues to impress me. Not unlike most younger players, it will take Rylee some time to adjust to playing at the university level and dealing with increased competition for playing time.
“As Rylee gets more physical strength and builds her mental fortitude, I’m hopeful that she will make an impact at that level.”
– Nick Greenizan