When Oscar Marshall left home four years ago to try out for the Montreal Impact Academy's elite soccer program, he had no idea what awaited him.

"I was kind of thinking, 'How well am I going to do on this team?' I wasn't thinking, 'What am I going to do without my parents?'" said Oscar, now 16 years old.

Soccer is Oscar's passion — he has been playing since he was about five years old. When he was 12, his dad suggested he try out for the academy.

He made it through all three rounds, earning a spot on the team. He became the first player from Nova Scotia to be accepted and started a new life in a new city, far from his parents.

"It's a very, very huge sacrifice on my time with my father and my mother."

Run by Major League Soccer team the Montreal Impact, the academy is a training program for teens who aspire to become professional soccer players.

The teens are in the Sport-Études program, which allows them to spend the first half of their day in classes at their high schools and the second half of their day at the Academy.

Very few Montreal Impact Academy players come from outside the province and only about five per cent of those who try out make the team.

So when Oscar made the cut, it caught both him and his parents off guard.

Tough for parents, too

The decision to allow their 12-year-old to move to another province wasn't easy for his parents, especially his mother.

"I immediately thought, 'No way is he going to go,'" said Julia Dexter, Oscar's mother. "I couldn't imagine life without him."

But Dexter, herself a former elite athlete who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games on the canoe kayak team, could see Oscar's passion for his sport.

So she and his father decided to allow their son to move from Dartmouth to Montreal.

They set Oscar up with a billet family, bought him a monthly transit pass, made sure he was familiar with the Metro and bus routes he'd need to get to school and practices — but the day they had to leave him in Montreal was still tough.

"That was probably one of the hardest moments I've ever had as a mom," Dexter said, fighting tears even four years later.

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Rocky start

Life in Montreal got off to a rougher start than Oscar had imagined — especially at school.

"I couldn't pass French. I couldn't pass math. I couldn't pass science," he said.

He had no choice but to improve— Montreal Impact Academy insists that players maintain good grades in order to remain in the program.

Students whose grades are slipping are pulled from practices and, if necessary, from games to work with a tutor.

Now Oscar is fluently bilingual and on the honour roll.

A change for the better

Only 10 to 20 per cent of athletes in the program will become professional soccer players, so they all need a solid education, said Nicolas Gagnon, head coach for U17 players.

"We have universities in the States that tell us, 'Any players that don't play pro for you, tell me, I'm going to take them. I'm going to give them a scholarship.' That's happening more and more," Gagnon said.

That motivated Oscar, but what helped even more was a change in his home life.

After living with a couple of billet families, a job opportunity opened up in Montreal for Oscar's stepmother, so she moved here and Oscar now lives with her.

Oscar and Max Marshall live with their stepmother Sarah Cameron, who moved from Nova Scotia to care for them while they chase their dreams of playing competitive soccer. (Shari Okeke/CBC)

"She helped me get through schooling, which is very good," Oscar said.

'Following their dreams'

Recently, his younger brother Max, who also plays competitive soccer, decided to join them in Montreal.

"I never never thought this would be my life... but it's working for us," said Sarah Cameron, the boys' stepmother.

"You see them thriving and you see them following their dreams."

The boys' father, a former Olympic canoe-kayak coach, had to stay in Nova Scotia for work.

For Oscar, the new living arrangement makes it easier for him to focus on chasing his dream of becoming a pro soccer player one day.

Oscar says if Max hadn't joined him in Montreal, he might not have lasted this long.

"I find the best thing that's happened with me is my brother coming up here," he said.

"I don't think I can go far without him. I love him very much."