The Blast became the 1997 under-19 Canadian club champions by battling their way through rigorous district and provincial playdowns before traveling to Broussard, Que., where they defeated Quebec 3-0 in the national championship semifinals and Ontario 2-1 in the final. They were the only B.C. girls team to capture the U19 crown.
The team’s roots ran back to 1991 when the Edmonds Kickers and Wesburn Panthers joined forces under the Wesburn banner before becoming one of the original members of the new Burnaby Girls Soccer Club. The Blast went on to win B.C. Coastal championships in 1995 and 1996 before losing the provincial finals to the interior champs.
But the Blast weren’t discouraged from taking one last shot in 1997. It wasn’t easy, though, since many of the players were also committed to college teams. Sometimes they played with no subs, and even started a game with as few as eight players.
Their national title was the first time a B.C. girls team had won the U19 crown. It will also be the only one, too since the Canadian Soccer Association has decided to make the U18 the oldest category to be competed for in the national youth championships.