Posted: Feb 24, 2012
So has been the life of Michael Marousek, a laid back atmosphere in a small town where he can unwind and enjoy new culture. “My transition to Antigonish was very smooth,” smiles the native of Prague, Czech Republic, now toiling in his fifth year in Canada.
“I didn’t know anything about Antigonish when I first came over. I was told it was in Canada and I was excited as I wanted to leave Czech Republic. I like travelling and wanted to enhance my soccer career in a different country.”
Enhance would be a vast understatement for Marousek’s soccer career, as he has flourished in his five remarkable years of soccer at StFX University under the tutelage of two X-Men soccer coaches, Lou Bilek and Graham Kennedy. Consider these statistics as a memento of the Czech native’s Atlantic University Sport career: all-time leading goal scorer in the history of the soccer program at StFX with 43 goals in five seasons, two-time CIS first team All Canadian, 2010 AUS Most Valuable Player, and a five-time AUS all-star. Not to mention he was the AUS male nominee for the prestigious BLG Award for the top CIS athlete in the country in 2011. Quite the seamless transition to Canada for a kid who claims it was a stroke of luck that brought him to this country.
“Lou Bilek, who was the head coach of StFX at the time, is from Czech Republic and he called my school’s club team looking for two tall players to bring over,” laughs Marousek. “I wasn’t on the club team but Mira (Miroslav Novak who also came over with Marousek from Czech Republic and just completed his fifth year with the X-Men) was, and he wanted to come over and asked me if I wanted to as well. Mira is 6’7 and I am 6’3 so if I wasn’t tall and Mira didn’t approach me, I don’t know if I would be here today.”
And for Graham Kennedy, who has been Marousek’s mentor and coach for the last three seasons, he couldn’t be happier that Marousek made the decision to hop overseas to unchartered territory.
“Anytime you get an athlete of Michael’s quality, you feel obligated to give thanks,” laughs Kennedy as he describes Marousek’s talents. “Michael is the complete student-athlete package and if you’re lucky enough to get somebody of his character and talent every five years, you have hit the jackpot.”
Now that Marousek’s days of donning the blue and white are over, he intends to see how far his soccer career can go. Michael was recently one of four players in Canada, to get an invite to a United States League Pro Soccer Combine in Florida. The three day event was used to evaluate young soccer prospects from all over North America, as the players played friendlies, practiced different skills and did fitness testing to evaluate physical strength.
“It was a great experience for me, as I was able to see the talent that is out there,” Marousek says. “There were a lot of great players and I feel like I competed hard, although I could have been in better shape as I haven’t played in a while.”
Oh the joy of modesty, something Marousek has in spades. Michael actually finished first place out of 105 prospects in the fitness testing category, something you never would have known while speaking with him.
Although it was a great experience to play with North America’s best players and to learn from the continent`s best coaches, Marousek came away from this Combine with the confidence knowing he can play with the best players in North America. After a couple professional teams in Ohio and Chicago expressed interest in Marousek’s services, Michael ultimately accepted an offer to try out for FC Edmonton, a professional team in the North American Soccer League located in Edmonton, Alberta.
The NASL is a feeder league to Major League Soccer, which is North America’s highest professional league. Marousek believes that this opportunity has steered him on the right path to pursue his dream of playing in the MLS.
“For sure this is a big opportunity for me. I will train very hard in the next coming weeks to be ready for my tryout in March. This is the next step towards playing in the MLS and I am very excited.”
And if ever Michael was looking for a little extra support and encouragement, look no further than his former StFX coach. “If he can adapt to the pro game and be a good pro, which I think he can, he will make the MLS,” claims Kennedy. “Michael is so athletically gifted, has such a high pedigree to his game, and has an outstanding work ethic that I think he will find a way to get to the top.”
So how has the small town of Antigonish, NS helped propel this elusive talent to soccer stardom?
“The community here is so supportive of me. I came in here not knowing anything about this town, but my teammates and the community took me in and made me feel right at home, which was so huge for me,” says Marousek. “I was so far from home that the extra support was so nice. If I didn’t come to Antigonish and StFX none of these great opportunities would have happened.”
“Graham (Kennedy) and Lou (Bilek) were the two best coaches I have ever had. I was in soccer academies in the Czech Republic growing up and no coach ever compared to Graham and Lou. They both played a big part in making me a better player.”
That is some high praise for the small university, that hasn’t been known for producing high-profile soccer prospects. But it is worthy praise, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Michael ‘Modest’ Marousek won’t soon forget where his soccer career developed once he gets to the pros.
“The fundamentals and techniques I learned from my coaches at StFX will stay with me for the rest of my soccer career.”