Halifax teen heading to B.C. to chase pro soccer dream

HALIFAX -

A teenage soccer star from Halifax is leaving home to chase his dream on the other side of the country.

Fourteen-year-old Yorgos Gavas has been offered a full-time position in the Vancouver Whitecaps Major League Soccer Academy.

“I’m going there for the whole school year and soccer season, to play on the U16 team there,” says Gavas.

“I didn’t really think this day would come, I’m so grateful for the opportunity. I could potentially be making a debut for the pro team, that’s my goal. I just have to keep working hard and doing everything right to get there.”

The Whitecaps opened an academy club in Nova Scotia in 2016.

Gavas becomes the first ever player from the Nova Scotia feeder program to be offered the opportunity.

“I’ve been playing with the Whitecaps Academy in Nova Scotia for about three years, and my coach has some connections in Vancouver, so he told me that I should go there and try out for the team, because he saw potential in me,” says Gavas.

“We’re an affiliate program with the Vancouver Whitecaps, so basically they have academy centres across the country, looking for the best local talent, hoping they can find a Yorgos that they can bring into their full-time residency program,” says coach Matt Holton of the Nova Scotia Whitecaps FC Academy.

The road to the pros will require the 14-year-old to leave his family for a year, a challenge he says he’s up for.

“I’m super excited,” says Gavas. "A little bit nervous because I’m going to be living away from my parents, and living with a billet family, so that’s going to be a bit of a change in my life, but hopefully I can learn to live with it, but I’m super excited.”

“There’s so much more to being a soccer player than just playing soccer, there’s maturity to it, and I think Yorgos has that, not all 14-year-olds do. Obviously it’s a big move for him and his family, but hopefully he can enjoy and get experience from and who knows what will happen,” says Holton.

“It’s massive for us. I think it really proves to the kids, especially the younger ones coming through that if you want it enough, and you’re good enough, then that opportunity is there for you.”