University of Manitoba Athletics

Goalkeeper Martina Arran is a self-proclaimed “nap master”. She can fall asleep anywhere, even around loud crowds and under chairs. It might sound a little crazy, yet as her former coach puts it, “You have to be a little crazy to be a goalkeeper.”
Those words were spoken as encouragement following a defining match of Arran’s soccer career.
As a youth soccer player, Arran represented both Winnipeg South End United and the Manitoba Blizzard team. During a Las Vegas tournament in 2011 with the Blizzard, Arran kept a clean sheet from 0-0 draw – it was the performance which she credits as cementing the pride in being a goalkeeper.
In particular, it was a diving effort right at the feet of her opponent to smother possession, which was the turning point of the match and preserved a scoreless draw.
“At the time that type of save was still a little out of my comfort zone, so at the end of the game my coaches were so impressed and told me something that has stuck with me since.” She recalls. “He said ‘you have to be a little crazy to be a goalkeeper.’ ”
Not soon after, Arran was invited to attend the May recruitment camp for the Manitoba Bisons. By mid-June, the native of LaSalle, MB signed with the CIS outfit.
Now in her fifth season, she has stepped up as a leader both on and off the pitch. Arran is commonly selected by coach Vanessa Martinez-Lagunas to do interviews with CBC because of her fluency in French.
Away from soccer, Arran is a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan, as she was born in Regina. She is also a very enthusiastic Queen karaoke singer.