VOYAGEUR KEEPER MAKES HISTORY

LLOYDMINSTER – Esther Bylsma spent all season coming up big for the Portage College Voyageurs. Now, she can say that it was all-conference big. The 38 year-old, who came out of retirement in 2024-25 to tend goal for both the Voyageurs women's soccer and fulsal teams, was named to the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC) Women's All-Conference North First Team March 8, the first such honour for any Portage soccer or futsal player – male or female – in the College's history. The award is voted on by coaches using a ranking system. Bylsma was recognized during an awards banquet at the ACAC Futsal Championships at Lakeland College.

"I was shocked," she said. "Keyano and NAIT (players) both gave me a standing ovation….I had to turn away as I walked up, otherwise I probably would've cried a little bit."

Head Coach Macky Singh had given her a heads up that she was up for an award so she would travel to Lloydminster for the ceremony but didn't tell her exactly what she was up for. Being named to the first team was a massive surprise.

"It was super exciting, " said Bylsma. "I was super honoured and humbled just to be amongst the ladies that represent futsal so well in Alberta and the teams that were there."

The Widewater, AB resident, who's been coaching and helping to organize futsal in the Slave Lake region for 10 years, took a chance last fall coming to Portage. Asked by Singh to come out of the retirement to help him rebuild the College's soccer and futsal programs, the married mother of a young boy could've cited her age or her family commitments or the fact that the Voyageurs were a young, inexperienced squad and politely turned down the offer. Instead, she embraced the entire College experience, working hard at every practice, providing stellar goaltending during games and mentoring her teammates through the trials and tribulations of the season and student life.

"I think if we didn't have Esther, we would've really been in a bind," said Singh, citing not only her ACAC record number of saves in a soccer and futsal season but also her unrivalled support of her fellow players.

Case in point was the time she drove a teammate to the city to get an important matter taken care of. On game day, no less.

"I remember we had one player in the fall that had to go to Edmonton to get her study permit renewed or she would've had to leave the country," said Singh. "And we needed her to play as well and Esther jumped up and said, 'I'll take you to Edmonton after this game.' So they ended up playing which was huge because we needed the numbers and the moment the game was done and Esther had made like 100 saves, she jumped in her car and drove (her teammate) to Edmonton."

For Bylsma, there was never any question about giving it her all, whether in the classroom, on the pitch/court, or in being there for others. Asked to share a few highlights from her memorable season, the well-spoken student-athlete pointed to some challenging first practices, the strong, keep-your-head-high team spirit despite some lopsided defeats, and stopping four of the seven penalties she faced during the outdoor season. Most of all, however, she highlighted the lessons she learned from Singh, assistant coach Brian Cook and the rest of the coaching staff, lessons she plans to share with the futsal players she coaches for the Slave Lake Soccer Club.

"With Brian, I learned quite a bit of goalkeeping stuff I can take back to the kids for sure," said Bylsma, who coached the Team Alberta North girls futsal team ad the 2024 Arctic Winter Games in Alaska and was recently nominated for Developmental Coach of the Year award as part of the 2025 Grande Prairie Subaru Excellence Awards. "And then with Macky, laying out expectations of the team, because we might not win every game, but what can we do to improve every game, what did we learn at practice? ...You know, you have a couple of minutes of brilliance and then you make a mistake, but how do you overcome that mistake, how do you push past that type of thing?"

She's even filed away some stretches and body movements that Assistant Coach Karl Tronche showed the team that she'll share with her young players.

Although she won't be back in Voyageur colours next year, the soon-to-be Portage alum is bullish on the future and plans to make the trek in from Widewater when she can to cheer on the College squad.

"They have some great recruits coming in next year," she said. "I'm excited to watch that team. I'll bring (my son) to watch the games for sure."

The Voyageurs head coach will be happy to have her back. He is eternally grateful for her commitment this past year and will – pardon the pun – Singh her praises forevermore.

"I don't think 'thank you' is enough to acknowledge what Esther's done for our program," he said. "I think her getting awarded the ACAC first-team all-conference for futsal really shows our appreciation, not just for the College but also the athletics college community in Alberta. That's a big thing for me and I really appreciate that."