The Maple Leafs are trending to youth and enthusiasm on the ice and have brought in a 15-year-old anthem singer in hopes of getting a reserved Air Canada Centre crowd to plug in.

Martina Ortiz Luis, a Grade 10 student from Woodbridge, won the audition to be the club’s full-time performer of ‘O Canada’ and ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’ After two warm-ups at Leaf road exhibition games, where she projected quite well and earned hearty applause, she debuts Sunday night with the Montreal Canadiens in town.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to be nervous,” Ortiz Luis laughed on Friday at the club offices. “But I’m excited to bring energy to the crowd.”

The Leafs join teams such as Boston and Philadelphia with signature anthem singers. The move reflects club president Brendan Shanahan’s wish to use the club’s 100th anniversary season to also “look ahead to the next chapter,” said Shannon Hosford, vice-president of marketing and fan experience for MLSE.

“We’re adding statues to Legends Row, changing our player banners and doing many events with alumni this year. But in addition to the keeping 100 in mind, we want to start at 001. We want to motivate our young team and to reflect that, we want our arena to be loud and have a real home ice advantage.”

That has been a challenge for the Leafs, especially in the ACC era, where years of losing have led disgruntled fans to sit on their hands or on occasion, throw sweaters in disgust. That began changing last season and Ortiz Luis, new public address announcer Mike Ross, and a revamped game operations team dubbed The Blue Crew have been added to further Shanahan’s vision.

Ortiz Luis, whose parents were born in Manila in the Philippines, is only four years younger than the club’s No. 1 draft pick, Auston Matthews.

“I know we have a lot of good young players,” Ortiz Luis said. “I’m a fan of all Toronto teams.”

It was her father who spotted the ad for anthem auditions on the Leafs’ website, but it was only the night before the tryout that she realized she had to be at the ACC for 7 a.m. next day with 200 other hopefuls.

She was well prepared, having started voice training at three-years-old and studying classical music at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Attending Cardinal Carter Academy of the Arts, she enjoys singing pop, rhythm and blues and hopes to become “a well-known musician and singer-songwriter.” She has performed musical theatre and written some tunes, including a Christmas song for the World Vision Canada charity.

“There were a lot of seasoned singers who came to the audition,” Hosford added. “But the first time she sang (before 11,000 people in Halifax on Monday in the game against Ottawa) a lot of people were rooting for her. We think she’s a key piece of what we want to do here.”

LHornby@postmedia.com