AJ Gray’s professional soccer career has taken him on a long and winding road.

His pro career began close to home with Toronto FC on the reserve team in its inaugural season, 2007. He thought his career was over but he has been able to overcome that setback. His soccer dream has been resurrected with stops in Europe and continued this past season with the Orange County Blues in the United Soccer League (USL) with thousands of miles of travel along the way.

It is very much a story of perseverance. He said he wants to motivate others to let them know even if there is a temporary defeat there can still be a second chance.

Gray, who is now 28, almost gave up on the game when his contract with TFC was not renewed. Even though he had been a promising youth player, with stints on the provincial and national teams, as a Canadian back then there were not many opportunities to play professionally. Gray grew up in Brampton and attended St. Augustine Secondary but also played rep soccer in Mississauga.

For about a year and a half any hopes of playing soccer looked to be over. But after playing at Sheridan College and in university at St. Francis Xavier in Nova Scotia, the dream was reborn.

“There I decided to do everything as a pro, to train like a pro and eat like a pro,” he said of his two years in Nova Scotia.

Following his second year there he was named to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) team selected to play at the 2011 Summer Universiade Tournament in China.

In 2011, he headed to the west coast where he played for the Victoria Highlanders of the Professional Development League. He raised $1,000 and travelled to Europe looking to find teams to play for. His stops along the way included Juventus IF of the Swedish third division, Oulun Palloseura from Finland’s third division and FC Haka in the Finnish second division.

He also had another stint in the PDL with the Ventura County Fusion in Ventura, California.

Last August, he moved another step up by joining Orange County, where he played six regular season games. His team also showed the ability to bounce back.