twins and wild fc players keelyn and taegan stewart go from grad to game
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wild fc soccer players (twins) keelyn and taegan stewart with parents darren and rhian graduated from bishop carroll high school during their ceremony at the first alliance church in calgary on thursday.
darren makowichuk/postmedia
it’s a big day for keelyn and taegan stewart.
today, the twins graduate from bishop carroll high school, marking the culmination of 12 years of classes, exams, assignments and homework, but that’s not all. right after graduation ends, they’ll be headed straight to mcmahon stadium to represent calgary in tonight’s soccer game against the halifax tides.
“i’m pretty excited,” keelyn said. “(it’s) exciting to be done high school and to be able to walk off the stage and as soon as it’s done, shift our mindset to focus on the match tonight.”
“exciting, but also nervewracking,” taegan added.
the girls are the youngest of the calgary wild fc team, joining the roster in january of this year at age 17.
the sisters have been playing soccer ever since they were three years old, starting with kicking the ball in the backyard with parents and making their way rapidly through the local and national soccer season in western canada, while also winning the silver medal at the 2022 confederation of north, central america and carribbean association football tournament as part of the canadian under-15 national team.
they gained their first international experience at age 10 when they trained with the boys barca academy in barcelona and returned a year later to play on an all-boys team at the barca academy world cup.
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when they first shared the news with their friends and teachers at school, everyone was “overwhelmed,” taegan said.
“they were just so excited for us,” she said.
calgary wild fc attacker taegan stewart battles with a vancouver rush fc defender for the ball during a 1-1 draw at swangard stadium in burnaby, b.c.
photo courtesy of wild fc
playing for the team while juggling school at the same time has not been without its trials. it has meant missing class time, practices at 7 a.m. and taking tests before the school day begins.
“it’s been a pretty hectic last couple of months trying to get over the finish line with school,” keelyn said.
teachers and school staff have been supportive, checking in on the girls to make sure the schedule isn’t overwhelming for them and accommodating their practice schedules to make sure they can finish tests on time. the school’s vice-principal, keelyn said, would show up at the school building early in the morning so the girls can write their tests.
“the teachers, they’ve been making sure to check in, making sure the school work isn’t overwhelming and if we feel like it’s been a lot, helping us to finish it on time and making sure we’re doing it correctly as well,” she said.
“it’s pretty long days, but it’s worth it. and we know that education is very important and we believe that strongly.”
future dreams for calgary wild fc twins include playing soccer in europe and becoming doctors
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and today is no different. their graduation ceremony started at 12:30 p.m. thursday afternoon to finish two hours later and the girls went straight to the stadium after.
“we might have a half an hour to come home and grab our soccer stuff and then just head straight to mcmahon,” taegan said.
with school in the rear, the girls have big ambitions for the future.
“it’s been our dream to play in europe,” taegan said. with a fellow roster of women — hailing from british columbia, toronto, calgary, new zealand and the netherlands — with years of experience playing in europe, the olympics and the world cup, it may not be such a pipe dream after all.
“we keep saying every day we go to training, we learn something new from our teammates,” keelyn said. “and it’s such a positive environment… from day one, they’ve been very inclusive towards us.”
so inclusive, in fact, that teammates even “threatened” to crash their graduation ceremony, taegan joked.
“we specifically did not tell them the location. they would actually show up,” she said. “they’re pretty excited for us today.”
while the girls might have to miss out on immediate after-grad celebrations, they’re going to get it do it up double — tonight with the team and then later on the weekend with family and friends. “it’ll be just such a cool experience going from grad to a professional women’s game,” taegan added. “and then hopefully be able to celebrate with them tonight.”
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but playing soccer isn’t their only post-high school ambition. the girls intend to study medicine and become doctors, although they’re still trying to figure out the logistics of how to balance professional soccer with school.
“we’re thinking of maybe getting our undergrad and then focusing on soccer for five years and then when we’re done with soccer, we might go back to university and get our medical degree,” taegan said. “because if we get into medical school now, that’s a full-time thing.”
“it’s still up in the air right now.”
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