By Ryan Makuch
AFC Ann Arbor are pleased to welcome Vitoria Sia to The Mighty Oak. Sia becomes the fourth Brazilian player to join the AFCAA women’s team, joining Luana Grabias, Stefane Rosa, and Marcella Helena. Sia also joins the likes of Yuri Farkas as an AFCAA alum hailing from Madonna University.
Sia spent her first season at Madonna, where she played a key role coming off the bench for her side. She earned a spot on the WHAC All-Newcomer Team as a freshman and chipped in three goals and three assists over 17 appearances, all but one coming as a substitute.
Sia helped keep the Crusaders’ attack running smoothly, with a special high point coming on October 13, 2021, when Sia logged the game-winning Golden Goal in the 107th minute of overtime facing Lourdes University. A win in that game meant Madonna would start the season with 12 consecutive victories, and, indeed, Madonna was dominant in attack this past season, outscoring their opposition 68-9 over the course of the season.
A smooth and fluid midfielder, Sia said of her playstyle, “My style of play is very calm and I try as much as possible to keep my teammates in front of the goal.” Head Women’s Coach Boyzzz Khumalo agreed with that self-assessment. “She’s very intelligent on the ball, and a very technical player.”
When describing how he first became aware of the player, Khumalo pointed to incoming Women’s Assistant Coach Olivia Brannon, who coaches Sia at Madonna. “Victoria is a player that was recommended to us by Olivia, who is a current coach at Madonna. She asked me to watch a couple of their training sessions because she rated her highly as one of the most talented players on a very good team, I went to go watch her, and I thought she did well.”
Khumalo had subsequent follow-up conversations with Sia, and he felt that she was the right fit for the club in regards to both play and culture. The cultural fit is very apparent when speaking with Sia, as when discussing why to join The Mighty Oak, Sia said, “The club structure, and the project they have with the women’s team.”
Sia would also add, “I expect many games in this season to be very high-intensity in regards to the technical and physical levels, but even with this high level of quality I hope my team will be champions this season!”
We would like to once again welcome Victoria Sia to the AFCAA Family, and we look forward to welcoming her to Ann Arbor this summer.
About AFC Ann Arbor
Association Football Club Ann Arbor (AFC Ann Arbor) was founded in 2014 and competes in USL2 (men’s) and USLW (women’s) national amateur leagues. We are a community-based club, focused on equity, justice, and anti-racism. We consider all of our stakeholders, including supporters, players, staff, and ownership to be part of the #AFCAAFamily. Come On You Mighty Oak!