WHITBY - Cameron DaSilva, an 11-year-old boy from Bowmanville, has played his way onto the Toronto FC Academy soccer squad for the 2014 season.

DaSilva was invited to try out for the club in October last year. There were three phases to the tryouts and DaSilva found success in all them. In February, the newly formed team travelled to New Jersey where they played the Washington DC and DC United Academy teams. The TFC squad won both games.

“I’m very excited,” said DaSilva, about playing for the TFC Academy squad.

The squad is Toronto’s development program. It’s a way for the club to train local players in the methods, strategies and overall professional environment of the club.

DaSilva is the only player in his age category from Durham Region to make the academy squad.

“Over the last couple of years the boy’s shown a great commitment and determination to do well in soccer,” said DaSilva’s former coach Andy Kennedy.

Kennedy, a former professional soccer player and current technical director for Ajax FC, knows the game well and says this is a great opportunity for DaSilva.

“He’ll be training and playing with kids of similar abilities, technical abilities, that will only be good for development,” said Kennedy. “He’s in a professional environment which not a lot of young kids get in Canada.”

“It’s an opportunity at a young age to get involved and get a feel for a professional environment, how an academy runs and how disciplined it can be from diet, the training sessions, match preparation and the details that are provided,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy says that DaSilva is well prepared for the learning curve that will come with being associated with a professional club team.