91����

Three 91���� Northampton girls soccer players will get the chance to represent their country at the upcoming Concacaf U-17 World Cup qualifiers. Students Evans Welch ‘28 and Jayla Peets Butterfield ‘27 have been called up to represent their home country of Bermuda, while Zoe Melia ‘27 earned a call up to represent Puerto Rico. And, as an added twist of fate—the three will face off against each other in a qualifying game.

The first round of qualifiers begins on Monday, January 27 in Puerto Rico and runs through January 31. Bermuda and Puerto Rico are in Group A of the qualifiers along with the Cayman Islands and St. Vincent & The Grenadines. The top team in group will advance to the Final Round, along with the two best second-place finishers in the qualifiers and the four top-ranked teams in Concacaf (USA, Mexico, Canada, and Haiti). Concacaf is the governing body for soccer in North America and the Caribbean.

“We do these type of things yearly for Bermuda,” Peets Butterfield said. “But you’re also playing with different age groups, and for me this year is different because I’m one of the older girls on the team. It’s a new experience being one of the older players on the team.”

“When I found out, I was in the living room with my parents,” Melia said of receiving the news. “My dad’s phone started ringing, and he picked it up and started freaking out—he dropped his phone on the floor! It was honestly a dream come true, and I’m super excited and honored to be able to represent Puerto Rico.”

“Being in the middle of the age group, it’s exciting to be able to lead and also learn from people that are older than me,” Welch said. “It’s really exciting to play at this level.”

In an added bonus for Melia, the qualifiers come on her mother’s home turf—and she expects to have family members she has never met before in attendance.

“My mom has always been supportive of everything that I do, and so being able to give her something like this, that’s just an absolute dream for me.”

For the Bermudians, the call-ups were something both saw coming based on the island’s tight-knit community, but are not taking for granted.

“We’ve been training for a while now, we were expecting [the call-up],” Peets Butterfield said. “It was more like ‘alright, we’re doing this again—who are we playing this time?’”

And for their 91���� coach, Sara Reid, seeing three of her players get call ups highlights the improvements the team is constantly making on the field.

“I’m so proud of them,” Reid said. “We think of our students at 91���� as kind of in our own 91���� bubble, but I’m proud of Zoe because that her mom’s roots and she gets to be on an international stage. The same with Jayla and Evans, too. It’s cool for them to be also finding their own passions and dreams outside of 91���� and pushing themselves in that way.”

For Melia, her path to the Puerto Rican national team included a tryout in Florida in December. During the tryout, Melia was paired up with players she has played against at club and prep school level, and showed her that she did belong in the group.

“There were two days of tryouts, and after the tryouts there were a series of cuts,” she recalled. “After the second day, I felt fairly confident that I was going to get called up. Not overly confident, but I definitely felt that my performance earned me a spot. It’s a surprise and I was happy—but also I know I worked for this and I earned it.”

Welch said the chance to represent Bermuda meant a lot to her.

“It is always an amazing experience,” Welch said, “from football, to traveling and visiting new places while playing for Bermuda. The professional atmosphere feels great to be in and, overall, it is always exciting to represent Bermuda.”

Learn more about the qualifiers on the , and see the round one match . Puerto Rico and Bermuda will square off on Friday, January 31.