After playing for the Ottawa South United Force Academy for the past three years, Dylan Lawrence is now ready to move on to the next stage in his life. The Holy Trinity Catholic High School senior recently signed with the St. Francis Xavier X-Men, and will now spend the next four to five years of his life playing Canadian university soccer in Nova Scotia.
St. FX Head Coach Graham Kennedy considers the talented OSU product a coup for the X-Men.
“We are absolutely delighted to have a student-athlete like Dylan join our program,” Kennedy says. “I am excited about his potential. We are ‘the little school that can,’ and with recruits like Dylan joining our team, we will succeed.”
It was at the 2012 OSU Showcase Tournament that X-Men associate coach Miroslav Novak saw Lawrence play. Strangely enough, however, it was St. FX’s women’s team coach Trevor Reddick who first noticed Lawrence at a local soccer event six years ago. Impressed by then 12-year-old Lawrence’s soccer tricks, Reddick casually mentioned to the young boy that he should play for St. FX one day.
Lawrence’s soccer skills have gotten him even more attention recently as he is the co-star of two Youtube videos that feature Lawrence and teammate Stephen Veenema performing tricks around various locations in downtown Ottawa. The first video has over 14,000 views, while the second was officially sponsored by Ottawa Tourism.
“We definitely did not expect the outcome we got from the first video,” recounts Lawrence, who helped with editing and production of the videos. “Having CTV and CBC radio contact us about the video, that really motivated us to make another one.”
Lawrence has parlayed his video editing skills into his own company: Tacklebox Productions. They are currently filming promotional videos for Jumpstart Canada, a program dedicated to helping less fortunate children get involved in sports. While he would like to polish his production skills during his time at St. FX, Lawrence knows that his new teammates will be counting on him to produce on the pitch as well.
“Hopefully, I can help them win a championship because it’s been a few years since they’ve won one,” highlights the playmaking midfielder. “My long-term dream is to play in the MLS, and I hope my route through St. FX will help me reach it.”
Lawrence credits his time at OSU for giving him the foundation to reach for the next level.
“I loved playing for the OSU. They treated me really well and gave me every opportunity I could get to help me get a scholarship and it paid off,” explains the captain of the ’95 Force boys’ team. “Anybody who is planning to play at the university level, they provide you with opportunities like tournaments and showcases that get you the chance to be seen by university coaches.”
While Lawrence is already developing a solid relationship with his new coaches at St. FX, including head coach Graham Kennedy, he says he’ll definitely miss his teammates and mentors from OSU.
“I loved all the coaches at OSU, especially my head coach Mahmut Adulovic,” Lawrence notes. “I have great relationships with them and they’re people that I’m going to stay in contact with throughout my years.”