After a very successful regular season, Queen's Women's Soccer is in the midst of a conference playoff run ahead of hosting the U SPORTS Women's Soccer Championship later this month.
 
Key contributors to the team's success this year are seasoned student-athletes Kirstin Tynan, Sofia Naufal, and Alicia Sutcliffe. These three veterans honed their skills and gained confidence during their winter semesters studying abroad, each playing for different teams in various corners of the world. After participating in the Queen's exchange program, they returned to Kingston for the fall with enhanced abilities, valuable life lessons, and new perspectives on the field.
 
Going abroad is a transformative experience for any student, but for student-athletes, it gives them a unique opportunity to explore their sport from a new cultural perspective. Each of these three student-athletes had the chance to play soccer – football in Europe – in an environment where the sport is deeply rooted in the local cultural fabric.
 
Kirstin Tynan (North Vancouver, B.C.) has been a key piece to the Gaels success over the last few years as a goalkeeper, with only two shots slipping past her guard this season.
 
Throughout the winter semester, Tynan traveled to England to study abroad at Liverpool and had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to share the field with some of her childhood soccer idols while playing for Everton F.C.
 
After getting accepted into University of Liverpool to continue her ArtSci degree, Tynan messaged multiple team coaches in the fall via LinkedIn with her CV and highlight video, and after following up with Everton F.C. in February, she got some good news.
 
 
"One of their goalkeepers got injured at the England camp, and so they needed a goalkeeper to come into training, so it just came into fruition like that. I was lucky, at the right place, at the right time kinda thing."
 
This stroke of luck helped opened the door to a world of elite women's soccer, Tynan's grit and determination leading to a pivotal moment in her athletic career.
 
Everton F.C. is a part of the Women's Super League, the top-tier of England's women's soccer. Tynan quickly realized that competing at this level would elevate her playing skills and expose her to competitions that would shape her into a more motivated athlete.

"When you enter an environment like that, it's so easy to be intimidated or feel like you need to be super serious… however [you need to] go in, work hard, and also have a smile on your face. That can make a world of difference."
 
Tynan described her routine while abroad as nothing short of intense, often leaving her house at 7 a.m. to attend training, meetings, and weight-lifting sessions, and not returning home until 5 or 6 p.m. that evening.
 
Tynan says the intensity and quality of the training left her speechless, and during her time abroad, felt she fit in playing at such a high level.
 
"Overall, I was impressed with my abilities to compete, and I also got to learn a lot from some really experienced goalkeepers and outfield players, of course, and also the coaching staff showing me what it would take for me to get to that next level."
 
Tynan warmed up with the team for two league games, and the other players around her were welcoming and supportive. Most importantly, the experience of playing professionally has shown Tynan that she wants to, and can, continue her soccer career after graduation.
 
"I have so much respect for the work they put in everyday, seeing what it looked like, and it also pushes me because I know that's what I want to do."
 
Tynan, who said she's now a fan of Everton and follows the team, came home with some important lessons.
 
"Off the field, positive attitude goes a long way. Just being genuinely happy and positive, that energy is infectious. To go in and work hard, but also have a smile on your face, that can make the world of a difference.
 
"On the field, the other one is just confidence. You need to believe in yourself and if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will. So I believed in myself to reach out with a lot of support from my coaching staff and my family, they were the ones that pushed me to do it, but if I didn't have the confidence to do that, none of this would have happened."
 
As for now, Tynan continues to defend the Gaels' goal. Despite her experiences in professional world-class soccer stadiums, she says nothing compares to playing on her home turf at Richardson.
 
"It's such an incredible place to play, and obviously being at home and having the community out… that's what gives us that extra push to make that extra rush or extra save."
 
For Sofia Naufal (Ottawa, Ont.), a talented midfielder with the Gaels, studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh allowed her to reignite her passion for soccer. During the fall of 2022, Naufal was sidelined due to injury and spent the entire season on the bench. After taking time off from playing for Queen's, Naufal was able to play in Scotland for her university's soccer team while simultaneously continuing her degree in Kinesiology,
 
"While I was playing there, I was just coming out of a long-term injury... playing in a high intensity professional setting kind of gave me my confidence back."
 
Naufal said her experience with European football was different from her experience at Queen's, describing her teammates as mature and serious when it came to training and games. Despite being an upperclassman at Queen's and playing several seasons with the team, Naufal felt like one of the younger and less experienced players while competing at Edinborough.
 
"They were a lot older, and they had a lot of experience under their belt playing in a very professional setting.

Sofia met a diverse group of players while on the University of Edinburgh's team and was connected with some of the team's leaders, who inspired her. She learned many different lessons on and off the field and said after the experience, wanted other players to know that going on exchange is an integral part of the undergraduate experience at Queen's.
 
"I would say totally go for it, and don't be shy when you're there as well."
 
In Kingston, Naufal has been a powerhouse this season and has proven herself a team player over the last few games. She commented on how Edibourgh's team's strategy differed from Queen's and has applied the skills she learned abroad on the field to her gameplay.
 
One thing that stood out the most was the team's "ability to play on minimal touches… really working as a team rather than individuals."
 
Sutcliffe (Mississauga, Ont.), a defender with Queen's in her final year of Commerce, noticed the same difference while attending the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
 
"In Canada, and in the States as well [soccer] is very much individually driven… where down there it really is a team effort."
 
Sutcliffe plays as a defender for Queen's but has demonstrated remarkable adaptability this season, contributing two crucial goals for her team. She accredits a portion of this success to the new playing strategies she learned during her time with the Strathclyde team.
 
Glasgow is notorious for its rainy climate, and Sutcliffe described how the girls on her team used the slicked turf to their advantage during games.
 
"I've definitely improved a lot on my defending technique in slide tackling while I was down there because it was just so easy to do, you're wearing pants and the turf was wet so you could just slide for ages. I've been doing a bit of that this season so far."
 
She described the team atmosphere as friendly and welcoming, and most players had a very laid-back attitude toward competitions. Sutcliffe added her experience bussing to her first practice and the fear that comes with not knowing where she was supposed to go and being the 'new girl' on the team.
 
"It was really nice to see the generosity of people that didn't know me, and that's a lesson that I'll definitely take moving forward. To make sure that if I see people in those situations, to not be the last person to lend out a reaching hand."