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Soccer

Himaras headed for big things

Proudly supported by Doug Tarry At a very young age, Eleias Himaras had a ball at his feet. Whether kicking it around or just pushing it with his feet down the hall, he just had to have that ball with him at all times. Eleias started playing recreational soccer when he was 5 years old […]

Proudly supported by Doug Tarry

At a very young age, Eleias Himaras had a ball at his feet. Whether kicking it around or just pushing it with his feet down the hall, he just had to have that ball with him at all times.

Eleias started playing recreational soccer when he was 5 years old with NorWest. At age 7, he began playing competitive for an U8 team, London Alliance. Though the team only lasted for a year, it was Eleias’s stepping stone into a new chapter of his soccer life in which he would spend the next five years with the Portuguese Fury of London.

With the Fury, Eleias had the great fortune of training with Garrincha (in fact, he spent the next six years training with Garrincha, and a few years later got the opportunity to play for the remarkable coach). Garrincha contributed greatly to Eleias’s development and successes. He brought out and cultivated Eleias’s footwork skills, which continue to give him a great advantage on the pitch.

Another remarkable individual, Peter Riccobon, worked with Eleias to shape his goalkeeping skills, and Eleias has spent the past five years training with Peter as a goalkeeper. Peter initially trained Eleias for his first world cup tournament in Portugal (the Mundialito) in 2013.

The most recent chapter in Eleias’s soccer development began this past February when he attended a two-week tryout with the Toronto FC Academy U16 Team. At the end of the two weeks, he was made an offer by TFC, and he accepted. Eleias transferred schools and made the move to Toronto within a matter of days.

Eleias has since attended the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup tournament in Dallas, Texas, where he was selected to join an All-Star team. That team will travel to Europe this August, visiting Ajax FC in Amsterdam and the Royal Belgium Football Federation in Belgium. He will also attend a showcase tournament in San Diego, California this summer.

Contributions by Bill Himaras