Taking talent to next level

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This article was published 14/05/2015 (3809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Don’t let their record fool you.

For the WSA Winnipeg Wolfpack soccer team, success is not measured by wins and losses but by growth, both on the field and off, from the first kickoff to the final whistle.

“Winning is very important to anybody, in any sport you play,” said Eduardo Badescu, the coach and one of the original founders of the team, now in its fifth season. “Our job is to develop professionals.”

The team — made up of 16 players aged 16 to 23 — is part of the USL Premier Development League. With an extra emphasis on development, the team is designed to take young, talented local players and give them a first-hand look at what it takes to make the next step in their soccer careers.

Although the team has yet to win more than three games in a season, it’s not due to a lack of talent. Indeed, these are the best players, playing on the best team, in the best league Manitoba has to offer over the summer months.

The results are there to back it up.

Ali Musse, a standout player from last year’s squad, is now with Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps Youth U-18 club. Three players were involved in Canadian national team camps. And others have already started college careers in both the U.S. and Canada.

“From that point of view, we did very good,” said Badescu.

WSA Winnipeg is one of six teams that make up the Heartland Division. Many use the same model as the team here in Winnipeg: rosters made up of local guys, with the agenda of getting players to the next level. But then there are teams such as the Thunder Bay Chill, who Badescu said recruit players from outside their own soil because they are too small to grow from within their own borders. This means they can choose from a larger pool of players — recruited from all over North America — and are therefore bigger, stronger, and most notably, older than a good chunk of their competition.

Kyle Hiebert, 17, is about to start his third stint with the Wolfpack. His first year he was just 15. The defenceman has a vivid memory of what it was like to play against grown men, like the Chill for the first time.

“For the first five minutes you just feel like you’re watching them move the ball,” he said.

But that’s then and this is now. And now, Hiebert looks ready for another big season as he kicks the ball back and forth with his teammates in the rain at the Waverley Soccer Complex Wednesday night. Just six months ago he was in France for the U-20 national team camp, playing against teams from all over Europe. He’ll be attending Missouri State University on a soccer scholarship in the fall.

Hiebert said a big part of his success was due to his time with WSA Winnipeg. He sees the game better. He’s faster.

Toby Hyrich-Krueger is the rookie now. The 17-year-old forward is in his first season with the WSA Winnipeg, and though he may look baby-faced on the outside, he packs an explosive first step and accurate kick.

He spent last season with the WSA Winnipeg’s mens team, so he has a bit more experience in battling older players than Hiebert did when he first started. But when it comes to the competiton, it’s a whole different level.

“It’s almost night and day,” he said.

It’s a new and exciting time for the Grade 11 student from Glenlawn Collegiate. He looks forward to travelling with the team as they take road trips to St. Louis, Missouri and Kansas City to name a few.

But he knows the glamour won’t come without hard work.

“It really pushes you to the limits — physically, mentally, tactically,” he said.

In the end, that’s exactly what this team is aiming to do; to develop these players into professionals on the field and to have that same attitude off it.

“It’s a really perfect environment to do that,” said Hyrich-Krueger.

It’s the kind of environment that has goalie Josh Partaker coming back for another year. Partaker, who also plays net for the University of Winnipeg Wesmen, is in his second year with the team. Badescu needed a goalie after his old netminder, Tyson Farago, left to play professional soccer with FC Edmonton.

“It was the perfect fit,” said Partaker, who at the age of 21 is one of the oldest players on the team.

He’s now one of the leaders on the team, something he said he inherited naturally as a goalie because of how vocal you have to be to play the position.

He enjoys it so much that even five practices a week — and two off-field workouts — doesn’t scare him away. Which is impressive considering he also works a construction job during the summer, starting work at 5 a.m., Monday to Friday.

“I have a bit of a busy life,” he said with a chuckle.

So does the rest of the team, especially as the season gets underway next week.

The Wolfpack begin the year on the road, starting with a game against the St. Louis Lions on May 17. They’ll then move on to play a double-header in Springfield, Mo., before wrapping up the trip with stops in Chicago and Des Moines, Iowa. The first game at home is set for June 3 against Springfield.

 

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca twitter: @jeffkhamilton