Jane Emerick
Special to The Chief
A local athlete is taking one step closer to realizing his dream of playing professional soccer in Europe.
Ian Kerr, 13, has been training with the North Shore Soccer Development Centre (NSSDC) for the past two years and in May he will be traveling with the team to represent Canada at an international youth soccer tournament in France.
"It's the chance of a lifetime," said Kerr, who also plays on Squamish's U13 team Gold traveling team.
In France, the Canadian squad will play about 16 games in one week against 70 teams from 30 countries. Following the tournament, coach Yuri Vasilevski said the team would head to Kiev in the Ukraine where they will play more matches, as well as have the opportunity to train with the European soccer club, Dynamo Kiev.
A former player of Dynamo Kiev, Vasilevski said the experience will allow his team to see what it is like to play soccer in Europe, which is something he said is much different than playing Canada. He said he believes his team will do well in the tournament, adding Canadian teams are competitive with European teams when the players are young.
"After about 15 or 16 [years old] you see a gap emerging in their level of play," said Vasilevski.
From an early age, European soccer hopefuls work with a professional trainer five to six times a week and at the NSSDC they are trying to develop that same standard to bring Canadians closer to the European level of play.
"We are working on creating a select program and Ian is a part of that," he said.
Vasilevski regarded Kerr's work ethic as one of his biggest assets, something echoed by his mother, Morag Kerr."We are absolutely proud of him, he works really hard," she said. "This is all based on his passion for soccer."
Morag said the grade 7 French immersion honour student was 5 years old when he began to play. Along with his father, she also credits Ian's skills to the coaches of the under-12 team who let him play when he was nine.
"Terry Hurlbert and Glen McEachran really took a chance on Ian," she said.
To continue improving the skills he developed at a young age, Kerr has created the habit of taking his soccer ball with him wherever he goes, which includes in his house. He said so far there has been only one lamp causality.
In France, the team will be billeted with French families and Kerr said he is also looking forward to utilizing his French and experiencing a new culture.
"I have been learning French and it will be cool to finally use it," he said.
Kerr's soccer idols include John O'Shea and Ryan Giggs of Manchester United."They really use their heads when they play," he said.
He hopes to one day play at his hero's level.
"I want to take it as far as I can," he said. "My dream would be to play professionally in Europe."
