Have gloves, will travel
Young goalkeeper aims for soccer scholarship
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Massimo Dos Santos is a 15-year-old Grade 9 student at Westwood Collegiate who lives and breathes ‘the beautiful game’.
“I have played soccer since I was six or seven years old. I am a (goalkeeper) and from very early on, keeper was my position,” he said. “What I enjoy about playing keeper is making big saves for my team and helping to keep us in games or helping us to win games. The hype of big games and big saves is a lot of fun. I really enjoy sharing those times and that level of emotion with my team.”
Massimo plays for Winnipeg South End United U15 team.
Supplied photo
Massimo Dos Santos, photographed outside the stadium of Estoril FC in Lisbon, Portugal.
“Our team and coaches are a good group of guys,” he said, then singled out one coach in particular who has supported and helped him.
“Pedro Daza has been my coach from about eight years old and he still helps me today. Coach Pedro is always there to push me and has given me a lot of opportunities. He has been very important to me with whatever success I have enjoyed on the pitch.”
Massimo lives in Westwood with his dad Sid, mom Sonia, and older brother Amedeo.
“My mom and dad are always there for me with support and helping me to be the best I can be,” he said.
Massimo has a clear idea of where he wants to go with soccer.
“My goal is to get a scholarship to a university. Ideally it would be in the Toronto area because I have family there,” he said.
Of course, if he wants to go to university, Massimo also has to do well in school.
“School is going pretty good,” he said. “My favourite class in school is math or science. Maybe science, actually. I like learning stuff about physics and biology. School is also good right now because our high school soccer starts next week.”
Massimo works hard on and off the pitch to be as good as he can be, and his future is bright. He has this advice to offer young athletes: “Always push yourself and work hard.”
Troy Westwood
Westwood's Sports Heroes
Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Troy Westwood writes about Winnipeg’s unsung sports heroes every other week in the Canstar Community News weeklies.