Michael Sexton's persistence has landed him a golden opportunity on the pitch.
The 16 year old was signed by the Thompson-Okanagan Football Club (TOFC) last week to tend to the team's net for the inaugural British Columbia Soccer Premier League season.
"It's an amazing opportunity for me to be able to go from somewhere - [because in Prince George] I'm struggling to even get training - and to be able to play in an amazing league and be able to be scouted by universities is just unreal," said Sexton about moving to Kelowna.
Sexton played the second half in both of TOFC's first two games last weekend - a 6-2 win over South Fraser and a 3-1 win against Victoria. He let in the two goals in his 45 minutes of playing time in Saturday's game versus South Fraser, but pitched the shutout in Sunday's game.
"They weren't top teams but the competition was still better than anything in Prince George," said Sexton.
The recent Duchess Park secondary student contacted the only Interior team in the new soccer league in September to see if they were interested in his services for the under-17/18 team.
"I just said that I'm interested if you have the chance to evaluate me and find out what kind of level I'd be able to play at," said Sexton. "We went back and forth for about a month and then communication kind of got lost and we never got the chance to get together."
In January, Sexton said he reached out with another email to let TOFC know he was still interested in playing in the high performance league. His timing was impeccable.
One of TOFC's goalies had suffered an injury and Sexton's email was forwarded to the team's coach Dante Zanatta.
"The coach gave me a couple of days to come down for a couple of training sessions last weekend where he got the chance to look at me during training and to see how I'd react with the different guys," said Sexton. "Sunday we actually had an exhibition game against UBC-O and he was able to see me in a game situation."
UBC-Okanagan played in the PACWEST soccer league last fall but will move into the Canadian Interuniversity Sport league in September 2012.
"We ended up losing 1-0," added Sexton. "But being that they're a university team I feel that was a huge accomplishment for us. I was proud of how I played also."
After the game Sexton was pulled aside and asked if he'd like to join the team for its first two league games which took place this past weekend in South Surrey.
Joel MacDonald, technical director for the Prince George Youth Soccer Association, said Sexton's persistence is a valuable lesson for everyone.
"Michael has worked extremely hard for this opportunity and we are all very proud of him," said MacDonald, in a media release. " He has tried a couple of times in the past to get this sort of chance but has never been chosen.
"I think it just goes to show that failure can't be a reason to quit and if you want it badly enough and are willing to train hard as well as make sacrifices then it is possible for P.G. soccer players to advance to elite levels in the game," he added.
Sexton has played youth soccer in Prince George since he was four and has focused on the goalkeeper position since he was 11.
"I had taken a break from soccer for about two years and when I decided to go back it was just a position I enjoyed playing," said Sexton.
For the past six years, Sexton has been involved with the Youth Soccer Select program and was a member of the under-15 provincial championship team last year. In the last year he has trained with the University of Northern British Columbia men's Timberwolves' team.
The B.C. Soccer Premier League replaces the Super Y program that had existed for the past decade and has awarded eight franchises for the opening season. In addition to TOFC, other teams in the league are: Abbotsford Soccer Association; Burnaby/North Shore; Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club; Vancouver Island's Lower and Upper Soccer Associations; South Fraser Soccer Club; Surrey United Soccer Club; and Vancouver/Richmond.
The league, which is affiliated with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, began play Feb. 25 with TOFC having a bye the first two weeks. The TOFC returns to South Surrey this weekend for the Vancouver Whitecaps Showcase where they'll play three games, starting Friday at 1 p.m.
Sexton has mixed emotions about leaving his friends and family behind in Prince George while taking the next step in his soccer career.
"Excited. "Nervous. Happy. Sad. Every thing's just kind of in there," he said.
