Rising soccer star catches eye of Toronto FC

Midfielder Daniel Carson has what few 10-year-old footballers possess: an unwavering commitment to the sport and the skill to back it up. And Toronto F.C. knows it.


The Major League Soccer (MLS) club called Carson Christmas Eve to say he made the first cut for a position in its under-13 academy.

“It was like a good Christmas present, early,” smiles Carson, the youngest player of 40 from across Ontario to be invited to the TFC trials.

Carson is from Portland, Ont. – a town 30 kilometres outside Smiths Falls with a population of 251 where “everyone can kick a ball” to one another, he adds.

Despite his youth, Carson already has a history of rising within The Beautiful Game, having received a scholarship from the Ottawa Fury Academy at age seven. Fury coach Frank Lofranco was also a scout for Toronto F.C. at the time, unbeknownst to the young Carson, who helped the club to a second-place finish in its Level 5 league.

Last spring, Carson and the Fury traveled to England to train with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, and met the pros. (However, Carson’s favourite player is midfielder Frank Lampard of Chelsea, Tottenham’s cross-London rival.)

Last winter, Carson attended the Parmar Sports Training Futuro Soccer Academy, where he was originally matched up against players three years older, although he’s worked with the U11s since October.

Sanjeev Parmar, Futuro founder and head trainer, decided to give Carson another shot, this time against players nearer his age.

It worked: Carson has been training with the U11s at Futuro since October. 

“He’s a really good student of the game,” says Parmar, who recently established an affiliation with the Ottawa Royals Soccer Club to have a greater impact on players’ development day-to-day. “He’s always interested in learning and he’s always interested in making sure he does what you ask of him.”

Carson’s training with Futuro was coupled with trips to Toronto for the first round of tryouts with the MLS club. Carson remained poised while competing for spots against players as old as 13.  He’s used to it, he explains. And having that experience in
England helped him adjust to the “over-maximum” intensity in Toronto.

“The level in England is higher, so in Toronto, I knew what to expect,” Carson adds, crediting his Futuro training for further developing his focus and skill. “This academy is really shaping me up. (…) It’s helped me as a technical player.”

Carson is the first student of the Futuro Soccer Academy to try out for Toronto F.C. But in its eight years of operating locally, Parmar Sports Training has already helped propel players to national teams and even Europe, including former Lycée Claudel student Miki Cantave, who is currently with F.C. Nantes’ academy in France, Parmar highlights.

“It’s really, really exciting,” Parmar says of Carson, “because the whole mission for our program, for the Academy, is to produce professional, international and national-level players or to attend university. This is the first one in our Academy who’s had the experience to go to TFC, and we’re fully supportive – that’s our whole goal.”

Carson’s work ethic is a big reason he stands out, Parmar adds.

“The average player comes to training and trains and then goes home. But these guys don’t, they’re thinking about it on the car ride home, they’re eating for the game, thinking about the food they eat,” says the holder of a Canadian Soccer Association A license who is enrolled to get an Argentinian Pro A license. “Daniel is definitely one of those kids.

“He loves it, he eats it. You just see it when you’re coaching him, you see it in his eyes – he’s hungry to learn. He hates losing, in anything, in any battle, he hates being number two.”

And Carson, who will head back to Toronto for final tryouts on Jan. 22 and Jan. 29, is a dedicated student who also understands the importance of the mental side of the game.

“If you’re asked to go for something big, don’t let your head go like this,” Carson notes, expanding his hands from his head to mimic a swelling ego. “You try to be as humble as possible.”