A former goalie himself for Club Roma, D'Angelo's daughter Sabrina came up to him one day while she was still playing house league soccer in Welland and announced that she wanted to play net.

"I tried to discourage her," he says. "She was a fairly good out player. I was a goaltender and I didn't want her to follow in my footsteps."

A couple of years later, Sabrina once again said she wanted to play goal and, after meeting with her coach, in net she went and there's been no looking back since.

A couple of weeks ago, Sabrina received an e-mail from the team manager of Canada's under-17 women's squad informing her that she had made the team and would be headed to Trinidad and Tobago next month for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCAF) championships.

If the Canadian team can finish in the top three, they will qualify for the very first FIFA under-17 women's championships in New Zealand October 30 to November 16.

Sabrina, 15 and just recently completed Grade 9 at Notre Dame, can't really remember why she wanted to play goal, but says her favorite position on the pitch.

"It's a challenge because you're the last person on defence and you have to sort of save the day," said Sabrina. "The team is depending on you. It's an exciting feeling when you make a big save."The selection to the Canadian team is the culmination of a journey that began three years ago when Sabrina was in Grade 6 at Alexander Kuska school in Welland and spent Friday nights practicing in Oakville with the Regional team. A year later she quickly moved from the under-14 provincial team to the under-16 team who practice at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan.

She began training with the national team just after turning 14 and has attended camps in Alabama, Florida, Toronto, West Virginia and Penn State in addition to practicing four or five times a week in Vaughan and working out at home as well playing occasionally with her club team when time permits.

"People don't know that she going to Vaughan four times a week and doing her homework in the car. In Grades 6 and 7, every Friday night she was going to Oakville instead of the show with her friends.

"It's a lot of commitment that she puts in," said her mom Bonnie.

Canada will compete in Group B along with Jamaica, Mexico and Puerto Rico at the CONCAF championships July 17-26.

The United States, Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador and Costa Rica will make up Group A at the CONCAF championships. On July 31, Sabrina and her teammates will be the focus of a CBC documentary that includes shots from her 15th birthday party in May when the presence of a camera crew in the D'Angelo's north-end home had the entire neighbourhood talking.