Earlier this month, 11-year-old Bautista Ramirez Imaz travelled with his team to the United Kingdom to play against 16 of the best under-12 football clubs in the world.
Imaz is a midfielder for the Toca Pro Football Club, a training academy for rising stars in the world of soccer, based in Mississauga, Ontario. Earlier this month, the Toca FC travelled to the UK to participate in the Norwich Mina Cup. Imaz’s team was the only Canadian squad in attendance.
The Norwich Mina Cup tourney is a qualifier for the Dubai Mina Cup, one of the more prestigious soccer tournaments in the world.
Toca Pro FC played against powerhouse teams such as Chelsea and Liverpool and advanced to the Gold Cup semifinals of the Norwich tournament to end the event in fourth place. They won seven out of eight of their matches and allowed only one goal into their net throughout the weekend.
Imaz was born in Argentina and received a soccer ball from his grandfather on the day he was born. When he was two, his family moved to Manitoba, settling down locally in Grande Pointe.
By age seven he was training with 1v1 Fútbol Dreams, an organization that connected him to Argentinos Juniors, a club in Argentina with whom he was able to train for three weeks in 2020 while visiting family.
In the summer of 2023, Imaz participated in a summer camp with Toca Pro FC and their head coach and owner, David Velastegui, invited him to be part of their Showcase team, making him the only out-of-province athlete able to travel with the team to big tournaments.
A year later, the family left Manitoba and relocated to Mississauga, where they are now closer to the Toca Pro club.
Imaz’s mother Paola describes some of the family’s experiences so far with the organization.
“We joined them in multiple tournaments, the biggest one being the Inter Miami Youth International Tournament, where they lost in the finals against the number-one-ranked team in the U.S.A.,” Paola says. “Of course, one of the highlights was watching [soccer star Lionel] Messi watching his kids playing in the same tournament.”
Velastagui shares how proud he is of his team.
“This was a significant test to measure [the athletes’] abilities against some of the top academy teams in Europe,” says Velastagui. “They not only demonstrated remarkable technical skills but also displayed the hunger and determination to compete at the highest level. I am truly excited about the future for these boys. Their success in dominating the Canadian soccer scene, and now with these results, proves that we are ready to take on the world.”
According to Velastagui, the Mina Cup tournament plays a crucial role in the development and scouting of Canadian players. This made the tourney even more important to Imaz, as he hopes to one day become a professional soccer player—or, if that doesn’t work out, become a coach or remain engaged in the soccer community.
“The most important thing I’ve learned is that you can be a small club in front of the big teams,” says Imaz. “They can underestimate your team, but when the game starts they are just another 11 boys playing soccer. So you get out there and show what you have.”
