Calgary Wild: End of January Review

The Calgary Wild’s issue thus far is that they don’t have a true standout star player, at least not an obvious one. They’ve got a lot of good supporting pieces that should fit into a starting 11 and any of them could prove themselves as a star, but going in it’s difficult to pick anyone to center the team’s narrative around. Stordy is interesting as an up and comer, Sawicki, Moore and O’Neil have long careers at a good level, but aside from their international experience they don’t read like they should take the league by storm. That said there’s still a good number of roster spots to fill and if Calgary can snag one or two true headliners they could very quickly be up among the better teams in the league because all those supporting pieces are already there.

Stars:

Meikayla Moore - NZ - CB - 28 - Glasgow City (Scot. Prem., 2051min)

Ok, I know I said there were no stars, but I’m gonna put Moore in this tier because she has spent time in the Frauen-Bunde and with a Liverpool team that fought their way back into the WSL. All at just 28 and coming off contributing to Glasgow City’s third place in the Scottish Prem. She’ll definitely be a rock in the defensive line and maybe that can act as a base for the team to build from.

Supporting Cast:

Jaclyn Sawicki - CAN/PHL - MF - 32 - Western United (A-League, 1920min)

Sawicki’s probably the main offensive conductor here. She plays further forward than most of the other midfield options and from her A-League highlights she plays a nice through ball. If the strikers can get on the end of those and convert, Sawicki will be well liked. It should also be noted that Sawicki was a core piece of that Western United team and should be a leadership figure with the Wild.

Sonia O'Neil - CAN/VZ - CM - 30 - London City (W Champ., 84min)

O’Neil is hard to assess because she constantly gets hired by high quality teams, but doesn’t play a lot. Her best season (lately) is probably 2020 with Rangers in Scotland. or the next year in Croatia with ZNK Split. Last year she played two games for London City, who are one of the better teams in the English second division, but without minutes that only means so much. Based on what I can find of her time with London City she plays a fairly defensive role and like most players in that role doesn’t stand out in a highlights package.

Farkhunda Muhtaj - AFG/CAN - CM - 27 - Fortuna Sittard (Erediv. Vrow., 83min)

Muhtaj is more notable for her work with the Afghan national team than as a player, she’s an interesting figure and will draw a certain amount of attention for that. As a player Muhtaj is… unproven, she was at Fortuna Sittard last year in the Netherlands and played a grand total of 83 minutes. That said, Sittard was a major player in the Eredivisie Vrouwen ending up fourth (before they cut women’s funding this year).

Once upon a time she was a stand out at York University and in L1 Ontario. The fact she has already translated that into a pro career makes her notable as a player, but she’s never played significant pro minutes.

Grace Stordy - CAN - FB - 22 - SC Braga (Liga BPI, 74min)

Stordy is similarly mostly notable as a University player, but in her case she was in NCAA with Memphis which is a higher level than U-Sports. Then she went to SC Braga in Portugal which is pretty good, for a moment, Stordy only stayed in Portugal for 6 months then returned to Calgary and played with Foothills. We don’t need to play dumb, if she wasn’t on a pre-contract with the Wild, she was likely searching for an NSL move. Regardless, I think she’ll be a good player for the Wild and earned a move to Braga on merit so she has talent to utilize.

Ally Green - NZ - FB - 26 - AGF (Kvindeliga, 417min)

Green is an interesting addition to this group. Another kiwi, this time arriving off a mid table Danish team, Green should be a consumate pro. I also think Stordy, Green and Boeckx point towards an interest in wingbacks, if that means a three at the back there needs to be more CBs added to this mix.

Ensemble:

Calgary’s ensemble is a bit different than most others because the majority of these players have professional experience, particularly in Ireland, particularly with Ciara McCormack’s Treaty United. For anyone unfamiliar, McCormack was (and sometimes still is) a player with a lengthy career, but is usually best known for being the whistleblower in the sexual assault scandal involving former Whitecaps and Canada women’s coach Bob Birarda. She was recently installed as CEO of Treaty United and had collected a lot of Canadians to the women’s team there. Calgary have targeted and brought in 3 players from that team and another from Irish club Shelbourne FC. Where I’m going with this is; many teams have brought in their depth players from among just graduated NCAA and U-Sports players, the additional year or two of professional experience that Calgary’s depth have in Ireland might be significant even if I don’t particularly rate the Irish league. Roelfsema in particular has a fairly notable career up to this point and is likely Moore’s presumptive CB partner.

Sarah Keilty-Diling - CAN - GK - 31

Caleigh Boeckx - CAN - DF - 24

Kristie Gray - CAN - FW - 25

Mijke Roelfsema - NED - DF - 26

Talia White - CAN - DF - 26

Jenaya Robertson - CAN - MF - 27

Keelyn Stewart - CAN - FW - 17

Taegan Stewart - CAN - FW - 17