Bold men's soccer: A bond stronger than soccer

The TMU Bold men's soccer season doesn't begin on the pitch, it begins around the campfire.

After they've wrapped up summer exhibition games, the team embarks on an annual, week-long training and bonding excursion to Ziontario, a 300-acre campground along the Saugeen River. For five days, they play the beautiful game, perform an annual, team-exclusive talent show, and give one another professional-grade haircuts.

The Bold's roster not only consists of talented athletes, but Tiktok-famous barbers as well. Fourth-year Luca Di Marco and newcomer Juan Pablo Delgadillo regularly go head-to-head, carving out fades on their teammates for practice.

"I'm telling you now, there's going to be more hair cutting than there is anything else," the team's head coach Filip Prostran had predicted, the week before the trip. "Except maybe soccer. Might be some of that too."

He was right.

Luca Porfiris, a first-year who'd been lovingly teased by his teammates that he would return from camp with a shaved head, instead emerged off the returning bus the following weekend with newly tousled waves and an ear-to-ear grin.

The rook says that although he was nervous at first to be playing at university-level caliber, the Bold's welcoming environment shook his nerves away within seconds.

"The support from the guys makes me want to keep getting better, and their athletic ability and quick pace allows me to perform to the best of my abilities," Porfiris says, adding that his goal this season is to contribute wherever his coach and his team need him.

"I think one of our biggest strengths is in our culture," Prostran says. "Every new player feels and exhibits the inclusivity and selfless support that we're all about."

Prostran, who has been coaching the team for twelve years and head coach for six, knows a thing or two about their personalities. And in turn, the athletes know just as much about him.

"We have this running joke called 'Fil-isms'," longtime defender and newly-instated team captain Christian Westlaken says, one evening before practice at Downsview.

He explains that a Fil-ism entails a member of the team imitating their coach in an act so identifiably Fil that the impression is recognized instantaneously.

"Sometimes it's the way he stands, or the things he says," leaning his weight into one foot and cocking his hip to the side.

The Bold and their coach have a history together.

Last season, TMU posted a 9-2-1 record, making their 14th consecutive postseason appearance, clinching their seventh OUA Final Four berth and winning their second OUA East division title. 2021 was also nationally-ranked offensive leader Abdallah El-Chanti's senior stint with the team.

This year, with a younger, eager core, the team's focus will be getting past the Final Four and qualifying for nationals.

"It's always a tough task coming out of the OUA with so many top teams," Prostran says. "But these guys are dedicated in every aspect of their life, from soccer to academics, and they're up for the challenge."

The coach also stresses that the Bold's program is about more than what happens in those 90 minutes of game time.

Prostran believes in the Bold, and trains his players to believe in themselves and look out for their teammates on and off the field, a sentiment that permeates through every player on the roster.

Sean Fafinski, or 'Finster', one of the Bold's veteran midfielders, takes that mindset to heart as he sets a leading example for the younger players.

"The way you present yourself to others when you're playing, when you're on campus, around your teammates and staff, matters," he says. "We want to make sure we're always being respectful and representing the team properly."

The sky looms pink and orange over fields of green, where the Bold trains four of five days of the week throughout the season. Fafinski stands up and jogs off to join the others, who are warming up for practice on the pitch, dribbling balls and cracking jokes. Their captain lingers, watching from atop the hill.

"The energy is really good on this team. We're deeper on the pitch and more focused than ever," Westlaken says, his eyes fixed on the Bold.

"I think we can go all the way."

To open the season, the Bold will be facing off against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks away from home on Sept. 15, before returning back home to Downsview Park for their home opener on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. You can show your support in the stands or tune in to OUA.tv to watch the game live.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#10 Abdallah El-Chanti: MF; 5' 7"; 5

#5 Christian Westlaken: D; 6' 0"; 4

#6 Sean Fafinski: MF; 6' 1"; 5

#7 Luca Di Marco: F; 5' 9"; 3

#19 Luca Porfiris: D; 6' 2"; 1

#21 Juan Pablo Delgadillo: MF; 5' 8"; 2

Players Mentioned

#10 Abdallah El-Chanti
: 5' 7"; 5
: MF

#5 Christian Westlaken
: 6' 0"; 4
: D

#6 Sean Fafinski
: 6' 1"; 5
: MF

#7 Luca Di Marco
: 5' 9"; 3
: F

#19 Luca Porfiris
: 6' 2"; 1
: D

#21 Juan Pablo Delgadillo
: 5' 8"; 2
: MF