Sean Gaiesky is loving life in Lethbridge.
After years as a dominant midfielder in the Prince George Youth Soccer Association's rep team system, the 18-year-old Gaiesky has taken his footie talents to the windy city, where he'll suit up this season for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
The Pronghorns' training camp started Monday and Gaiesky likes his prospects of getting some playing time as a CIS rookie. One of 30 players in camp, Gaiesky says its his goal to prove he is worthy of a being ranked in the top 15 on his team.
"It's a good group of guys, mostly from Alberta, we have five or six first-years," said Gaiesky, who has a long background in track and field as a provincial-level sprinter.
"[Pronghorns head coach Randy Bardock] said I had a pretty good chance of getting on the field. I'm a first-year and it's going to take some time. The biggest jump is the speed of play, so you're always making quick decisions. You can be quick on the field but if you can't make decisions a split-second earlier, nothing's going to happen for you. So that's what I've been working on a lot."
Throughout the winter, Gaiesky practiced with UNBC Timberwolves head coach Alan Alderson and played in the Prince George men's indoor league. He said he thought about staying close to home, where he could have played for the T-wolves. Problem is, UNBC does not offer kinesiology, Gaiesky's major, and that made Lethbridge an ideal fit for him.
"If UNBC had kinesiology there's a good chance I would have stayed, it would have been cheaper and easier, but I'm also in school, it's not just soccer," said Gaiesky, who just graduated as an honour roll student from D.P. Todd secondary school.
The Pronghorns invited Gaiesky to an identification camp in Lethbridge in the spring of 2013 and he agreed to terms for an athletic/academic scholarship in November.
Due to the realignment of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, the Pronghorns won't be playing UNBC, as they did last year. UNBC is now part of the B.C.-only Pacific Division, while Lethbridge is grouped with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba teams in the Prairie Division. The teams will cross over divisions only at playoff time and that likely means no roadtrips home for Gaiesky.
The Pronghorns have an indoor facility for the off-season similar to the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre and play their home games at the Community Sports Stadium, which has artificial turf.
"The first thing I noticed is the ball bounces so high, so the past couple days it's been tough getting my touch down, but I like it, it's more predictable than on grass," said Gaiesky.
"It's been 32 C the last few times we've practiced. It's ridiculous. We practice two hours at night and every second morning we have fitness [sessions]. I noticed the wind last night at practice because there's nothing surrounding it and it just blows right in, but it hasn't been too bad. I'm sure winter will show me how bad it can get."
The Pronghorns head for Whitefish, Mont., today, where they will play this weekend in exhibition games against the Montana U and the University of Great Falls. They open their CIS season Sept. 12-13 in Winnipeg against the Wesmen.
* Gaiesky ended his youth soccer career in fine style last weekend, helping the Prince George Kodiaks win gold at the West Kelowna Heat tournament. Backed by the stellar defensive play of Gaiesky and his 16-year-old brother Ryan, timely goals from Will Erickson and Jeremy Mann, and outstanding goaltending from Riley Kidd, the Kodiaks defeated Okanagan of the High Performance League 2-1 in the final.
"The team played well, we had a bunch of 16-year-old come up to fill the bench and they contributed quite a bit and scored most of our goals," said Sean Gaiesky.
* Three members of the Prince George U-18 team -- Kidd and twins Braden and Jesse Rake are trying out for the Timberwolves this season. After being sidelined with a concussion, Jesse Rake played his first games in nearly a year at the tournament in Kelowna.
