By Greg Nikkel
The Comp Eagles girls soccer team had one of their best-ever years together, making it to the provincial finals for high school soccer, and the team-work may have been due in part to the number of siblings playing with each other.
This year’s team had five pairs of sisters out of the 18 players on its roster, which the girls said made for some interesting times together and strong plays.
The sisters include Jillian and Grace LaBatte, Alyssa and Brynn Romanovitch, Morgan and Arliss Sidloski, Payton and Sydney Spencer, and twins Reece and Kiera Pittman.
Some of the girls have played soccer since they were very young, such as the Sidloski and Romanovitch sisters, who have played since they were preschoolers.
“We interact a lot, because we do a lot of playing together,” said Morgan, noting with their positions on the field they are able to anticipate each other at times.
“A lot of times Morgan knows what I’m about to do and can be there with the ball,” added Arliss.
For the Romanovitch sisters, they’ve both played since they were five, but this is one of the first times they’ve been on a team together. Due to their positions, however, they don’t interact a lot on the field as they play on opposite sides.
“You just know that somebody always has your back on the team,” said Alyssa.
The LaBatte sisters haven’t played on the same team very often either, with Grace in Grade 9 and Jillian in Grade 11.
Jillian noted she plays either left or right wing, wherever she might be needed on the field, but hasn’t often been in plays with her sister on the field.
Kiera and Reece Pittman, both in Grade 9, grew up playing soccer together. On the Eagles girls team, Kiera mostly played defence, and occasionally as a striker, and said of her sister, “I’m glad she was there.”
She agreed with Alyssa in that having her sister there was good for camaraderie, even though they didn’t interact a lot on the field as they were often on opposite sides.
As a Grade 9 player, it was a good experience going to provincials, said Kiera, as during the season, they mostly just played Moose Jaw teams.
“We usually just played the same teams during the season, so it was nice to play different teams at a higher level,” she said.
Sydney Spencer is also a Grade 9 member of the team, while her sister Payton is in Grade 12. Due to their age difference, this was the first time the sisters were on the same team, and as Payton is graduating, it’s also the last year they were together.
Sydney played as a striker while Payton was on defence, so while they were on opposite ends of the field, she appreciated having her big sister around on the team.
“It was nice. We always had each other to be there if you don’t have a friend to be partners with, and it wasn’t as awkward,” she said, adding of having so many sisters on the team, “It was definitely entertaining at times.”
Payton agreed with that comment, added, “I think it was really fun getting to play with her, to be on the same team and travelling together. It was almost a bonding time. It was actually entertaining sometimes because of the family love and teasing that would go on.”
Payton felt that having the sisters on the team was a factor in how well the team did in the standings and trouncing Yorkton at regionals before making it to the provincials.
“Out of the four years I’ve played high school soccer, before it had always been cliquey, but this was the most bonded team we’ve had since I started playing at the Comp,” said Payton. “I think having the sisters was the difference in how we played, as we know each other and are close to each other.”
When the girls were asked what effect having sisters on the team had, Arliss joked, “There was a lot of arguing …”
“I feel it brought us together closer as a team,” added Morgan.
The Sidloski sisters admitted there was quite a bit of sibling rivalry on the team, as they were not afraid to tell their opinion of the other’s skill or play in the games. They both wanted the same jersey number (but age won), the same spot on the bus, to be in the same group and line for practice and absolutely loved beating the other person in any drill.
Morgan noted they did work well together as a team on the field as they knew instinctively where the other one was going to play the ball.
“Since this is my last year, looking back on the last two years, I am happy that Arliss was on my team. I feel we worked well together despite the competition between each other. I will miss our bus stories (from travelling) and the inside jokes that leave us laughing for hours,” said Morgan, one of four girls who will be graduating from the team this year.
