Four B.C. high school seniors have signed national letters of intent to play soccer with the Simon Fraser University men's varsity team and attend school at SFU beginning in the fall of 2012.
The 2012 class includes Simon Cohen of White Rock, Colin Jacques of Richmond, Tristan Wallis-Mayer of West Vancouver and Burnaby's Gilbert Kyne.
"It is very rare for us in this day and age to find four elite players like this in our own backyard," said SFU head coach Alan Koch. "As is consistent with our recruiting over the years, we look local first before looking at any foreign talent, and thankfully we have found these four outstanding student-athletes."
Cohen, a tall and strong goalkeeper from Semiahmoo Secondary, is a member of the Surrey United U-18 team in the High Performance League, and represented their men's team in the Pacific Coast Soccer League in 2011. He has been a part of the provincial under-16 team and represented Canada at the Maccabiah games in 2009.
Jacques, an explosive forward from R.A McMath Secondary, is a member of the Fusion FC u-18 team in the HPL.
Jacques started out as a forward for his team but is versatile and plays as a winger, too. He has been a part of the u-15 and u-16 provincial teams.
Jacques was also the two-time golden boot winner at the B.C. high school provincial championships.
Wallis-Mayer is known as a lighting fast fullback from Sentinel high school. He currently plays with the successful West Van FC in the Vancouver Metro Senior League premier division. He was also a member of the provincial team in 2009 and 2010, and was invited to be a part of the Canadian Soccer Association National Training Centre-West in 2008 through 2010.
Kyne is a dynamic and complete forward from Byrne Creek Secondary. He currently plays with Mountain United FC in the HPL. He led his team in scoring this past year and was named the club's MVP.
Kyne was also named the MVP for Byrne Creek Secondary this past year. In 2009, Kyne was selected as the top forward in the North American USL Y-League championships.
"Gilbert has a great combination of flair and strength to add to our potent goal-scoring game. I am excited for him to join us as a student-athlete at SFU. He will push to play right away," said Koch.
All four recruits will begin their SFU soccer careers when they report for training camp at the end of August.
"What I am incredibly happy with is that all four of these recruits have an equal focus on football and academics. I am excited to push them to their limits as athletes, and also see them work towards earning their SFU degrees. It will be an exciting day when we finally see them report for training camp in August," concluded Koch.
