University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer player #Jaclyn Sawicki# will represent Canada once again at the upcoming CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship in Ciudad Panama, Panama.

Sawicki, a sophomore midfielder with the Vikes from Coquitlam, B.C., made the Canadian team following an extended 14-day pre-tournament camp in San Jose, Costa Rica. They now travel to Panama to prepare for competition Feb. 27-March 11.

In the last game of the pre-tournament camp, Sawicki even got to wear the captain's arm-band - quite the honour for the Vikes all-Canadian star.

"Any time you an get an opportunity to play with the national team says a lot about who you are as a soccer player and what your abilities are like," said Vikes head coach #Tracy David#. "It's pretty exciting and any player who has been in that situation wants to take the upmost advantage of the opportunity. You never know when an opportunity like this may arise again, so when you're there you have to show your stuff."

"We are very proud of Jaclyn Sawicki, representing the Vikes, and representing the CIS," David said. "Certainly in the past, it's been encouraged to players to attend university in the States but this shows young players they do not have to go south of the border to play - you can stay at home and have a good career here and play for the national team."

The Vikes 2010-11 rookie of the year, Sawicki led the Vikes with nine points in 12 games on three goals and six assists. She was named as a second-team CIS All-Canadian and first-time Canada West all-star last November.  She also earned her first two senior women's national team caps in the fall during an exhibition tour in the U.S.

This will be the first tournament for newly-appointed Canadian U-20 head coach Andrew Olivieri. Sawicki is the only CIS player selected and one of four B.C. players.

"It will be exciting to see the future of our women's program as we work towards the CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship," said coach Olivieri. "This is the type of highly competitive environment in which our players must perform if they want to make regular appearances with the national A team."

The eight-team CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship will qualify three teams to the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Both U-20 tournaments will feature players born 1992 or later.

As part of the championship preparations, Canada played Costa Rica's "B" side as well as club champions Arsenal Coronado. (Costa Rica did not qualify for this year's Under-20 competition). Canada chose Costa Rica as the base for its camp to simulate similar conditions that can be expected in Panama.

The 2012 CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship runs March 1-11 in Ciudad Panama and La Chorrera, Panama. Canada's three group opponents are Haiti on March 1, Jamaica on March 3 and Mexico on March 5. The semifinal matches are scheduled for March 9 while the championship final is scheduled for March 11. Since 2004, Canada has won two CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championships (2004 and 2008).

More information on the roster will be available at www.canadasoccer.com.