Preteen futbol phenom experiences success on a national stage

12-year-old Sebastian Dzikowski has been playing the beautiful game since the age of three.

“I love playing with the ball using my feet, it’s just so fun! I don't know why but I just love it,” says Sebastian.

The soccer phenom, who lines up at striker on the Villains U12 Tier 1 club, has an impressive record of 587 consecutive football touches. The mind boggling number was the result of years of practice.

“I’ve practiced since I was eight so it’s quite hard because you have to have a huge centre of gravity and definitely concentrate and it takes really long, my record took like 10 minutes.”

In June, Sebastian was selected to play in the prestigious Danone Nations Cup for the top 10-12-year-olds in the country.  Out of the 8,000 players eligible for the team, the striker was one of 22 players named to the roster.

Sebastian and Team Western lost to the East 3-2 in a hard fought final held in Saputo Stadium, the home of MLS’s Montreal Impact.

“Oh the grass, I'm still thinking about it,” says Sebastian. “It was just incredible!  The second I walked onto the field it was like ‘Oh my God, the grass it was just like a dream.”

The striker’s time with Team Western had a profound impact on Sebastian.

“The things that they taught me, I had no idea about,” says Sebastian.  “We had more intensity training, we still have a lot of intensity with Villains, but this was just incredible.  The things that I learned from the players there, like my friends, I made a bunch of friends, and they really helped me.”

Sebastian Dzikowski is this week’s CTV Athlete of the Week sponsored by Big Chief Beef Jerky.

With files from Lisa Bowes