Press Release:

Taylor Lord: The Latest Canuck Abroad

Whitby's Taylor Lord Signs with AS Monaco

Canadian Soccer Player, TAYLOR LORD, 17 yrs, has signed with the French Football Club, AS MONACO, under 18 Youth Squad, in France. Taylor has been living in Nice, France for about a year and has had recent trials with, NICE FC, AS CANNES and MONACO, with very favourable response.

Taylor’s last Canadian Club was the Newmarket Soccer Club under 16 team, under Coach Tony Greco, where he was named the teams MVP. That year he made the OYSL All-Star Team, Coached by Sam Mederios, which went to the prestigious Disney Tournament in Florida. Prior to that, Taylor played for 2 years in the U.S. in the Super Y League, being a member of the Junior Lynx Academy.

Taylor first began playing Soccer at 4 years of age, with Lake Vista Park in Oshawa and he has rapidly progressed from there, being a team member of the Durham Regional Team at 13 years of age, under Coach Stevie Gill. His extensive training from a very young age, was first initiated by Hungarian Coach, Zoltan Baranyi, in Whitby, who was also one of the main Coaches in the earlier career of Mike Klukowski, who now plays with FC Brugge in Belgium. “Zoltan always focused heavily on Technique, Technique and was a major positive influence on Taylor’s development as a very Technical Player, at an early age”, says his father Kenny. Zoltan trained Taylor for many hours, one on one and still advises Kenny with Taylor’s development. “He has been a major instrument in the career path of Taylor and always believed in him since the first time he trained him at a Whitby Iroquois Summer Soccer Camp at a very young age”.

In the last 3 years, Taylor has really stepped up his training, knowing quite clearly that his goal is to be a professional soccer player and has proven this by the countless hours that he has dedicated to training on his own. “When his friends have asked him to go out, to a movie or other social event, he makes sure he trains first, starting with fitness and always completes extensive technical soccer drills with me. There have been many, many times that we will go to a field close by, just by ourselves and it has been so nice, that we can talk about the positive things and focus on the things that we have to improve on. The main key to his improvement has always been his self analysis and knowing what to work on. Taylor is a self motivated player who thrives on his training. What is unique about him, is how focused he is as a young player and his determination for excellence. He trains hard and dreams big and doesn’t stop until his goals are met. Taylor knows the statistics of becoming a Professional player, he knows the training involved, he knows the sacrifices, he’s heard the negativity around the Soccer fields, but failure has never been an option for him and he has the support of his family. He simply quits for no one.”

Taylor has also been a team member with the Junior Lynx Academy, for 2 Soccer Tours to England, where he played other Football Academy Teams such as, Bolton, Everton, and Tranmere. This experience, along with being in France and doing other European Training and Trials, has given Taylor the depth in his game that is required to be of a high calibre, so that he can strive toward future Goals. Taylor’s training in Canada prior to going to Europe, really prepared him. Kenny says that it is paramount that people understand that we in Canada, have some First Class Trainers that are of the highest quality and some of them have been very instrumental in preparing Taylor for Europe. “The Trainers that I have picked to train Taylor over the years in Clinics, really have my deepest respect for the building of him as a player. They are of such quality and are true Professionals. It would not be fair to list one or two because he has learnt so much from so many. He has had a Team of Trainers that have trained him for many, many hours in Technical Training, High Performance Training, Speed and Agility, Game Preparation both Mental and Tactical. The Trainers have brought with them Training Techniques from many different Countries of the world, which has given Taylor a Unique blend of style and a great depth of Creativity in his game.”

Taylor’s mental toughness, self belief and positive attitude have always been there, even although there have been many obstacles along the way, too many to count and too many for a young player to care to remember. Brick by brick, he has built himself a place where he wants to be in his mind and in his heart and has trained countless hours to get there. And right now, A S MONACO looks like a pretty good home. Every Player has a story and Taylor’s book has just begun.

Editor: We at Canucks Abroad wish Taylor well on his adventure and congratulate him on a considerable achievement. Let's hope he can follow in the footsteps of another CA, Julian de Guzman, who got his break signing for the Marseille youth team. Our thanks to Taylor's Dad who sent this in to us.