It’s been quite a year-and-a-half for Joey Seo.
In February 2013, the central midfielder from Qualicum Beach, British Columbia on Vancouver Island was playing at the house level in the Oceanside Youth Soccer Society. That’s when he read about an open tryout at the Whitecaps FC Island Academy Centre.
He impressed the coaches enough that, after e-mailing them to thank them for the opportunity to try out, Seo got a response saying that he’d been accepted into the program.
Now, the 14-year-old is preparing to take the next leap in his development, as he’s set to join Vancouver Island Wave in the EA SPORTS BC Soccer Premier League (BCSPL), the province’s high performance youth soccer hub and official partner league of Whitecaps FC.
Over just 18 months of training at the Nanaimo-based Island Academy Centre, Seo’s growth as a player has been remarkable, according to Craig Angus, the Island Academy Centre’s regional head coach.
“He came into the program with potential, but had a lot of things to work on,” said Angus. “I think the biggest improvement has been his positioning, awareness, and the consistency around his decision-making. That also has had an effect on his technical skills, because now that his decision-making has become more confident, his technical abilities have become more purposeful.”
Those improvements are a product of 90-minute training sessions with a considerable amount of focus put on game situations.
“In all our Academy Centres, we use a small-sized game approach to development, so it’s very situational, very scenario-based,” said Angus. “Obviously, we’re big on creating technically good players, but at the same time, they have to be able to read and recognize different plays, and then apply that technical ability to the different scenarios.”
Seo’s newfound skills led him to playing for the Upper Island Storm of the Vancouver Island Premier League (VIPL) in November 2013, where he really began to notice the difference in his own play.
“My decisions were faster, I could read the play a lot quicker, and I felt that I was a lot better on the ball than I had been,” said Seo.
However, Seo’s time with the Island Academy Centre hasn’t only improved his abilities on the field, but it’s shown him how much work is required off of it.
“The big thing now is that he practices every day, even when there isn’t a practice scheduled,” said Seo’s mom, Tracy. “He’ll work on his own, by himself, everyday.”
This past March, Seo was also selected to participate in the Whitecaps FC Pre-Residency Combine, which brought together a collection of some of the top players from five of Whitecaps FC’s seven Academy Centres (the others being Okanagan, Northern, Kootenays, and Saskatchewan), along with players from the BCSPL.
“It was difficult for me, being that these were some of the best players in the province, but it was an honour to be selected, and, even though I made some mistakes, I think I did pretty well,” said Seo.
According to Angus, Seo’s progression is exactly what the organization was aiming for when the Island Academy Centre launched in 2012.
“Our overall goal with the Academy Centres is to push kids and prepare them for higher levels, whether it’s Tier 2, like VIPL here on the island, or Tier 1 like BCSPL,” said Angus. “And, hopefully, if they’re good enough, they can eventually move on to full-time to programs with Whitecaps FC on the mainland.”
As for Seo, whose family will be moving down to Victoria later this month so that he can play for the Wave starting next February, he’s just grateful for the opportunity he was given. More than that, he’s going to make sure to use the lessons he was taught.
“I really liked the coaches and staff at the Academy, and now, heading to the Wave and moving forward, you can bet I’m going to be playing the Whitecaps Way.”
To learn more about Whitecaps FC Academy Centre programs, go to whitecapsfc.com/academy.
