Youth soccer player Brayden Messner will be heading to Spain in 2024 to train with Real Madrid at a soccer camp for exceptional young players.
Brayden, who is 11 years old, will be playing for the under-12 Powell River Villa rep team in September. He qualified for the trip after attending a Real Madrid soccer camp in Victoria earlier this month, which was a busy one for him, soccer-wise.
Brayden’s mother Alysha Messner said on the July 1 weekend, Brayden went and played in the Golden Wings tournament in Campbell River for the Tla’amin Nation team, which was the champions. Brayden won the most valuable player award.
After that Brayden went to Victoria, attending a jiu jitsu tournament. Following that, he attended the Real Madrid camp.
Alysha said she found out about the camp after speaking with one of the physical education teachers at Brooks Secondary School, where she works.
“I said, ‘How do you get your kid noticed by scouts?’ He indicated that I needed to sign Brayden up for a soccer camp,” said Alysha. “An advertisement popped up for the Real Madrid soccer camp in Victoria on my phone, so he went and did that.
“They were evaluating all the kids over five days. Only a handful of kids from the camp got picked to go and play in Spain.”
Brayden, who plays in the centre-mid or left-wing position, said he was very happy and excited to have been selected for the Spain camp.
“We did drills, we played a little bit of scrimmage, and learned the Real Madrid values that we needed, which are: hard work, never give up, and to show sportsmanship,” said Brayden.
Brayden said the coaches for the camp were very skilled soccer players.
In all, there were 80 youth soccer players attending. Alysha said Real Madrid held camps in Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa and other Canadian cities, so Brayden was selected to represent Canada in the under-12 category.
“In Spain, it will be called a world challenge,” said Alysha. “There will be 40 teams from all over the world, with four days of training camp and three days of tournament playing.
The camp in Spain will be held in March 2024 over a period of eight days.
Brayden said he is looking forward to playing with and against some of the best youth soccer players in the world. He has been playing the game since age four.
“As soon as he was old enough to go into soccer, he went into soccer,” said Alysha.
She said her husband Andrew has been coaching Brayden all the way through.
When asked what he enjoys about soccer, Brayden said he likes the environment and how fun the sport is to play.
“When I'm playing soccer, I just have a different feeling,” said Brayden. “I love sports.”
His passion for soccer leads to lots of practice, which he enjoys. In Brayden’s front yard, he has a soccer net and regularly performs drills, running around flags and practising ball-handling skills.
Brayden’s long-term goal is to play soccer professionally.
“That's in my mind a lot,” said Brayden.
In terms of his soccer inspirations, Brayden’s favourite player is Erling Haaland, with Manchester City, which is also his favourite Premier League soccer club.
In order to help Brayden get to Spain, a fundraising campaign has been initiated. Alysha said Powell River Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club will be holding a hot dog fundraiser for Brayden in the near future, hopefully by the end of summer or into September. There is also an account at the bottle depot under Brayden Messner soccer, or account number 2333, for people who want to drop off bottles to help Brayden raise money.
There will also be a donation box at Truth and Dagger Tattoo Collective on Marine Avenue for people who want to donate.
“He wants to be a soccer star,” said Alysha. “That's his goal.”
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