A lot of people made a quick exit to warmer destinations during March Break but Braden Stevanovic wasn't one of them. The Belle River high school student-athlete stayed home this year and trained with Shane Topalovic of Next Level Athletics.
He would drop in at Shane's gym during the day and do other things later in the day because couldn't sit still. "I'll go to a local school and hit the ball off the wall. I'll do technical stuff on my own." said Stevanovic who is heading to the University of West Virginia later this year to play soccer. "It's now just what I do. It's part of my schedule. It keeps me up. It keeps me going."
Here's a young athlete who is not afraid to set big goals. He wants to be part of the 2026 World Cup. As far fetched as it may seem there's a reason Stevanovic set that goal. "I like to set it as high as I can just so I always have something to chase." said the 18-year old who would like to be part of Team Canada one day. "If I fall a little short I still worked as hard as I could."
The hard work he's putting in now will be on display later this year when he heads out to play for the Mountaineers who went 16-2-4 last season and made it to the NCAA quarter finals. "I have to have a really good rookie season at West Virginia. People notice goals. You have to score and you have to assist," said Stevanovic who feels getting off on the right foot at the University level is necessary for him to get noticed by Canada Soccer. "It's gonna take a lot of work to get there."
Stevanovic played for Windsor City FC last summer and could return or get a head start on his University career playing in the USL League 2 where, Stevanovic says, many post secondary players play before school starts.