Photos courtesy Celtic Sport Academy GPCSD L-R: Ethan Rowland, Jose Castaneda

By Tanner Smith

Soccer

Grande Prairie home to Alberta Surf “Northern Wall”

Jun 26, 2022 | 9:00 AM

Two Grande Prairie soccer players are traveling the world together, with the Alberta Surf.

Ethan Rowland and Jose Castaneda Grade 10 French Immersion students at John Paul II High School, first met in Elementary School where they discovered right away, each other’s passion for the “beautiful game.”

Since then Rowland and Castaneda have been pushing one another to be the best they possibly can.

“I think it’s great, at any time I can call Ethan and say let’s go to the pitch, we push each other it’s not like a normal friendship, it’s more of a strong bond having the ability to always be able to compete against each other and we want the best for one another so we’re always pushing to the max,” says Castaneda.

Rowland and Castaneda have been to Dallas, California, and Ireland with their team. It’s a mix of kids from Alberta, B.C, and Ontario.

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The two boys appreciate all the support their school has given them, making sure their achievements don’t go unnoticed.

“I feel like all our teachers at our school are super supportive and everyone knows what’s happening because we have this Instagram page that posted about us and every teacher came up to me asking questions,” says Rowland.

Rowland and Castaneda both have dreams of playing professional soccer one day and they know it’s going to take a lot of work, but they also know they couldn’t do any of it without the support of their community.

The boys said without sponsors, all their great coaches, teachers, and parents; “without them, none of this would be possible.”

With Rowland being a Goal Keeper and Castaneda playing Centre Back as a defender, Grande Prairie is now home to the “Northern Wall” of Alberta Soccer.