The Beginning

About four years ago, I really got to see how much the world's biggest sport, football had grown in my region of Canada. There's still a lot of work to be done but it was encouraging to see how football was spreading its wings in the country. 

Around the same time, I got to meet Kevin De Serpa, a former Canadian men's national U-20 and U-23 player whose professional career was spread across countries like Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Scotland, and Norway. From these experiences, he founded, Ginga Soccer Inc., as a way to share his passion for football with youth in Canada. From my conversation with Kevin, I got a good idea of just how much of an impact his organization was having in our region. At the time, Ginga Soccer had invited freestyle icons like F2Freestylers, Billy Wingrove and Jeremy Lynch to some of their youth camps to show the kids the true beauty that exists in the sport.

One of my favorite sporting moments was watching Brazil lift the World Cup in 2002. Watching the likes of Ronaldo and Rivaldo in that Brazil team made me realize that soccer was different than anything I'd ever experienced. My goal is to rekindle that feeling by exploring what the beautiful game has to offer in Canada. Kevin (with Ginga Soccer Inc.) is just the start, there are so many more organizations and influencers scattered across Canada that are making an impact on the game.

There are still many chapters yet to be written.

- M.O.