Jessica Small is having one big year.
It has been a prolific start to the season for the first-year striker on Olds College's women's soccer team.
In the first four games of the schedule, Small scored four of the Broncos' five goals, including a hat trick recorded in the first half against the SAIT Trojans on Sept. 20. That game ended in a 4-4 tie.
She was named ACAC Athlete of the Week and currently sits tied for 10th in goals in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
This fall, Small, 20, came to Olds College for the school's agribusiness program, transferring from the University of Guelph's Ridgetown campus in hopes of pursuing a career in agronomy.
Although she's played soccer since age four, the sport wasn't originally on the first-year student's mind, having left her equipment at home.
That changed during her move into residence, when students were distributing pamphlets, encouraging people to try out for the women's team.
During her audition for the team, Small turned heads immediately with her ability to shoot the ball with good form and accuracy — rare qualities, according to Macky Singh, head coach of the school's men's and women's soccer and futsal teams.
“The moment she tried out, she was brilliant,” Singh said.
“When we were doing a shooting session, she was hitting it really clean like a proper striker and not only did I take notice of it, the men's team took notice of it as well.”
College soccer is the highest level at which Small has played the sport and she's enjoying the experience.
“I'm loving it. Macky (Singh), our coach, he knows everything and he's such a great coach and our practices are really high-intensity so he's always got us moving,” Small said. “I'm still learning new things and it's awesome to work with him. The girls on the team are really nice and they're all fun to get along with.”
But back at home in Ontario, Small is known for her scoring touch on the ice, where she was named the most valuable player on a Ridgetown campus hockey team predominantly filled with males.
Small grew up in Wallacetown, a hamlet located half-an-hour west of London, Ont. and started playing hockey at age four.
She played recreationally until joining the Ridgetown Westags (short form for western agriculture) for the 2013-14 season, playing centre.
“I was the only girl on the hockey team. So it was all these guys and we played different schools and tournaments and stuff like that and that was really fun. It's a lot different playing with the guys,” she said.
Those differences included playing against competition that was bigger, faster and more aggressive than what Small said she's seen in the past. However, she added that players never treated her differently from any other opponent.
The Ridgetown campus has about 600 students enrolled, too few to compete in a provincial collegiate athletics association.
Instead, the school competes in exhibition games leading up to one tournament: the Ontario Agriculture Colleges Winter Games, nicknamed the “Goodwill Games” because participants included the different U of G campuses.
Small scored two goals and recorded two assists during the four-game tournament. As a result, she was voted the most valuable player by her teammates.
“That was pretty exciting. I didn't think I was going to get that because I was the only girl on the team. I got a little plaque and everything for that,” she said.
According to Westags head coach Mitch Pickering, she earned the honour because of her consistent play, adding that his goal from the outset was to assemble the best team possible, regardless of the players' gender.
“Basically, what really stood out to me (were) her intangibles. She could see the ice really, really well,” Pickering said.
“It wasn't so much what she did with the puck as where she was when she didn't have the puck, just stuff you can't really teach.”
Olds College is set to start a women's hockey team for the 2015-16 season but Small will not be skating for it because the second year of her agribusiness program is a co-op placement.
“I'm not really going to be here next year, which is really disappointing,” she said.
For now, the Broncos will have to be the beneficiaries of Small's services in one sport, with Pickering describing her as a “coach's dream,” a dedicated person who put a full effort into every task.
“She came out to practise, she worked hard. She was (receptive) to criticism and worked on the stuff you told her to. She seemed to improve throughout the year,” he said. “She never complained. You never heard her grumbling at all.”
