By NAN Sports Writer
News Americas, VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Mon. July 6, 2015: The Jamaican flag may not have been out at BC Place Stadium last night but the roots of the Canadian soccer who took home the Young Player Award at the 2015 Women’s World Cup definitely stretched to the Caribbean island.
Kadeisha Buchanan, the 19-year-old who won the award and plays fir the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Canadian national team was born to Jamaican parents in Toronto.
Buchanan was one of three finalists for the Hyundai Young Player Award. FIFA announced the shortlist last Thursday. Buchanan was the only Canadian on the shortlist and beat out Ada Hegerberg of Norway and Jiali Tang of China.
She landed on the list after the first two Canadian games in Edmonton and sealed the deal by stayed there with her play in the final group play game in Montreal and the two knockout games in Vancouver.
Buchanan’s father was born in St. Thomas, Jamaica while her mother is originally from Montego Bay. She is the youngest girl in a family of six sisters and was raised by a single mother in Toronto.
Buchanan was 14 years old when she was recruited to the Canadian youth program in 2010. She won a silver medal at the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 championship in Guatemala.
When she was called up to the Canadian women’s national team in 2013 while still in high school, Buchanan became one of the youngest players on any women’s national team.
Buchanan scored her first international goal against the United States on 8 May 2014 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in front of the second largest crowd to ever watch a women’s soccer game in Canada. The game ended in a 1–1 draw.
Buchanan was also named Canada’s Under-20 Women’s Player of the Year in 2013, and anchored the host nation’s defense at the 2014 Women’s U-20 World Cup Canada in 2014.
In the opening match of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Buchanan was one of Canada’s starters versus China.
