Joshua Martens '20 Recruiting Profile

    Ever since I can remember, I have always had a ball at my feet. I started my journey as a little four year old playing for fun but as I grew, I quickly realized I had a gift.  At the age of nine I started playing with 11 and 12 yr. olds in the top league in my city (Saskatoon). I have played up an age group ever since. I have represented my province (Saskatchewan) at various showcase tournaments and always played one or two age groups older than myself. It got to the point where as a 15 yr. old, I had to join a mens team (18+) just to get enough competition to challenge me to improve my craft. My coaches saw the amount of work I put in, from going to multiple training sessions a day to watching and analyzing the professionals to even meeting with coaches to improve my mentality to optimize performance on the field. It was after many hours of hard work and dedication that my coaches decided to send me on a trial with FC Edmonton academy. 

    I successfully completed my trial with glowing reports from the coaches and was invited to join their academy. They liked me so much that even before I moved, they invited me to play with them in the U15 Canadian National Showcase tournament in Toronto where I competed against 4 academy teams: Montreal Impact, Toronto FC, Whitecaps FC, and a Canada selects team. This tournament showed off the very best U15 boys in Canada and I was a part of it. I played in every game except one and it was an amazing experience. I am currently playing with the FC Edmonton Academy and playing alongside some of the best players in the country. I am often exposed to training with professionals from the first team as well as being coached with some of the most reputable coaches in Canada. 

    My academics are quite good as I am enrolled in advanced placement (AP) for all my core classes and am maintaining a solid 3.5 GPA but I am always striving to improve just as I am on the field. I understand my academic performance is just as important as my soccer performances and that really drives me to do well.

 My collegiate goals and aspirations are to earn my degree in kinesiology and move on to a career as a physiotherapist with hopefully a professional soccer team. As for soccer, my goal is to attend a reputable school with good players and coaches where I can really learn and grow as well as where I can get good scholarships for my ability. What makes me a good candidate for any team is my experience with older players as well as my reliability as a solid centre back. Another reason I am a good candidate is because I am one of the hardest working and motivated people you will ever meet and I will do anything for my team. Many things separate me from the rest of the people my age but I believe the biggest thing is my mental ability. I avidly attended "mental training" where I worked on keeping myself motivated and learned all the tricks to use when stressed or mad or not focused. I am able to control my emotions and I feel that is a major key to playing at a high level. Opponents cannot get in my head. This is what separates me from the rest. 

Thank you for reading!

Josh Martens