Yukon’s first pro soccer player, Joe Hanson, ready for MLS NEXT Pro debut
WHITEHORSE, Yukon (BVM) — While English midfielder Steven Gerrard was at the peak of his glory with Liverpool, Joe Hanson was sitting at home watching every move of the Reds star, 4,646 miles away. Hanson started playing soccer when he was 5 in Whitehorse, Yukon, at his father’s academy, Total Soccer Excellence (TSE) and mimicked Gerrard’s movements every time he hit the field. At 9 he decided to go pro.
Next weekend, Hanson, now 18, will line up as one of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC2 forwards against the Dynamo Dos in Houston. The team from British Columbia is one of the 21 squads that make up the newly created MLS NEXT Pro league. This competition involves reserve teams of the U.S. tournament.
Hanson is the first professional soccer player from Yukon. Signing a two-year contract to play in the MLS development league has taken a great deal of sacrifice for Hanson and his family.
“Being from the north makes everything expensive to travel for high-level competition and training,” TSE owner/operator and Joe’s father, Jake Hanson, said. “Joe made an incredible sacrifice leaving home and moving to Seattle to play for the big U.S. youth club Crossfire Premier when he was just 13.
“We had a wonderful family he lived with (in Seattle), but it is very difficult to send your kid away so young to pursue his dream.”
In the middle of his preseason preparation, Joe said that it is more difficult to make it as an athlete from Yukon.
“It is so isolated from the rest of the country,” he said. “It is so north and so small. If you want to make it at the level of players from Vancouver or Toronto you have to leave Yukon. Otherwise, it’s not possible.”
Joe’s tools
“Joe is a very mobile attacking player that loves to work hard off the ball, pressing and making runs,” Jake said. “From a young age, (he) seemed to have a gift for moving the offense and positively affecting the play for his team. He tends to be inspired and rises as the levels and opportunities get more meaningful. He’s a great team guy and brings productive energy that just somehow always seems to help the team and make others around him better too.”
Jake is also the Technical Director of the Yukon Soccer Association. He added that Joe’s threshold for continued development is constantly growing.
“(Development) appears very high for a young player,” Jake said. “Seemingly growing steadily as a player and showing no sign of limits at this point to his potential.”
Waiting for the big call
The forward, who was selected to the Whitecaps FC BMO MLS Academy in 2019, and previously played with Yukon Selects FC as well as spending time with Vancouver Island Wave in the EA Sports BC Soccer Premier League, is confident that it won’t be long before he gets a call-up to the first team.
WFC’s first-team head coach Vanni Sartini used to be his coach in the U-23 team before he signed with the pro team.
“He likes me as a player,” Joe said. “I’m pretty confident that he is looking to get me in the first team sooner than later.”
In the meantime, Nick Dasovic will be his head coach at the WFC2.
The Yukon product is focused on making a good impression in this coming tournament, not only to speed his way up to the top league but also to be taken into consideration by the coaching staff of the Canada U-20 men’s national soccer team, who will play the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship next summer. The tournament will serve as a qualification for four teams to the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia and two teams to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Eyes on England
Joe’s link to England is not just about his love for Liverpool FC or Gerrard. His ultimate goal is to play in the Premier League. It is no coincidence that the agency that represents him is from London.
“I’ve always dreamed about playing in Europe, especially in England,” he said, although that’s a conversation he’d rather have with his agent in a couple of years.
Those coming after Joe
The Whitecaps forward would like his pro signing to serve as a boost and open doors for other Yukon players.
He does not rule out the possibility of one day taking over the reins of the academy founded by his father and helping more Yukon talent become known outside the territory.
Jake pointed out that his academy has some good young players with the potential to follow in Joe’s wake.
“One 16-year-old boy in Whitecaps Edmonton Academy, centre Felix Steele-Masson, and a 13-year-old boy who is in Vancouver and was on trial with Whitecaps U14 team and playing in BCSPL with Mountain United, Cameron Bringsli,” are on the top of the list for Jake.
In the meantime, Joe has two forwards like him as inspirations (Gerrard retired in 2016), Polish highly-rated and lethal striker Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) and the rising firepower of English Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton). Can he match them someday?
