On an ordinary summer day, four rising young soccer stars from the Sea to Sky were playing a game for Whistler's co-ed adult summer soccer league.
In short order, they were scouted by Italian coaches with the Genova International School of Soccer, assessed for their fitness to join a trials team that would play against professional Italian soccer teams in hopes of securing contracts, and then swept off to Italy to show their skills against teams from the elite Italian leagues.
Whistler's Cam Baker, Will Robson and Harrison Shrimpton have earned berths with the Genova International showcase team alongside Taran Bir of Squamish, joining young players from Australia, Mexico and Brazil plus several out-of-contract professionals seeking new positions.
One minute, the 16- and 17-year-olds were playing recreational games in the club-level Green River League season, and the fun Whistler adult league. This week, they've got matches lined up against Catania and Chievo - teams in the Italian Serie A league viewed as one of the most elite in the soccer world - that will be broadcast on Sky Sports throughout Italy.
They're playing against professional Serie A through D teams in games held in stadiums with seats for thousands of spectators, in front of scouts from many clubs and Italian spectators, inspiring hopes of futures that could include further pursuits of their passion for soccer.
It's a "quantum leap" for the players to be stepping up almost literally to the pro ranks, marveled Peter Shrimpton, Whistler Youth Soccer Club president and father of Harrison.
He was amazed as the unexpected scouting led to a meeting late one night in the Village between Harrison and the three high-level Italian coaches, who decided he looked good because of his fitness, size and good attitude.
The other three Whistler and 麻豆社国产players went through similar meetings.
Shrimpton has hopes that the local players will provide examples for other Sea to Sky youth of the opportunities for professional soccer careers that could exist, when they return from what is the first-ever off-continent experience for three of the four.
"They're all great players, and they will all do us proud," he said.
The four have seen great success locally with teams such as the Squamish-based U18 Sea to Sky boys' team that recently finished on top in its challenging gold-level league in Vancouver.
On Sunday (July 18), in their first game against the A.C. Siena squad, which was recently relegated to Serie B after several years in the elite Serie A, the Tonezza Genova International team fought to a narrow 2-0 loss in a tight game, Shrimpton said.
The Siena side included several Italian national U20 and U21 team players.
The high-level Italian coaches who spotted them were in the Sea to Sky corridor for a four-day camp in 麻豆社国产run from July 5 to 8 by the Canada West branch of the Genova International School of Soccer (GISS).
The camp, which drew Whistler and 麻豆社国产players, furthered Genova International's goal of creating pathways for players to become professionals, Program Director Tim O'Brien said.
The three coaches included an Italian national U21 team coach, the GISS Italy technical coach and the GISS technical director, who is also a scout for the three-time Serie A champion team AS Roma.
O'Brien, who has been playing with Robson's father Dave - a dedicated Sea to Sky soccer coach and volunteer - for 20 years, asked the GISS coaches to pop up to Whistler to look at the four young players in action with the Corona/Brick Drive team in the Whistler adult summer league.
The scouts chose the Sea to Sky players in large part because of their athleticism, their all-around abilities and their surplus of "raw talent," O'Brien said, adding that great all-around athletes are a "hot commodity."
The players are "big, they're strong, they're fast, they're good athletes first," O'Brien said, noting that's typical of Canadian and Australian players. With that grounding, the coaches feel further technical skills can be taught.
"The technical stuff can come, is what they feel. But if a player doesn't have that raw athletic ability at this age, they're behind. Playing skills can be taught at this age," O'Brien said.
Another GISS official said Genova officials have watched seven Canadian players sign professional contracts with teams in Italy and Switzerland after running talent ID camps in Toronto for two years.
O'Brien said it feels like he's seeing the progress of the first generation of Whistler kids who've had the opportunity to play higher-level soccer, the "leading generation of kids who are real soccer fanatics, as it were, who've played soccer and focus on soccer."
In Whistler and Pemberton, Shrimpton said, the clubs and volunteer coaches and parents have worked hard to create a thriving club scene and support more competitively oriented players who move on to 麻豆社国产or Lower Mainland rep teams.
The 麻豆社国产club has led the way with rep teams and a strong organization, he added.
Whistler and Pemberton are close to having their own rep squads, Shrimpton said - the demographics are challenging in the smaller communities, but he expects that to happen "in the near future."
"We're developing a strong soccer culture, a strong football culture, which has been nascent for so long [and] is really blossoming now," Shrimpton said.
