From being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at five months old to playing internationally, Salmon Arm soccer star Ronan Wiens wouldn't be sidelined.
In Grade 11 at Salmon Arm Secondary, the 17-year-old said he’s been playing soccer “forever, pretty much” after starting at about three years old, with his mom Sara Wiens adding “since you could walk.” Though his cerebral palsy, caused by a stroke in utero, affects movement on the right side of his body, Ronan has found his niche in soccer.
After successfully trying out last October, Ronan is now a member of Canada’s Para Soccer Team for cerebral palsy, then headed right to Salou, Spain to play in the IFCPF Men’s World Cup, “youngest on the team by five years.”
Sara, who was able to attend one of the three weeks he played there, described it as a very emotional experience.
“It’s pretty emotional to watch your kid in the Canada jersey play against Japan, and England,” she said. “You just never imagine this, when you’re told at five months old that your baby has a disability. I couldn’t have imagined the life that he would lead.
“You think, as a parent, when you have a child with a disability, that their life will be limited in some way, and then I look at my son’s life and I’m like, he has so many incredible opportunities.”
Up next, immediately following the end of the school year, Ronan will travel with the team to New Jersey on June 28 for the Canada vs. U.S. friendly tournament and training camp. He attended last year’s tournament as well, but as the only Canadian to attend, played with the American youth team against the Irish.
The para team, for athletes with cerebral palsy or other brain injuries that affect movement, only accepts players 15 and older. While Ronan made the team at 16, he’s gone to tryouts in Victoria every year since he was 13.
“I wasn’t going to make the team, I wasn’t allowed, but just to say I was there and meet the coaches,” he said.
With the Canadian team members coming from all over the country, they have limited opportunities to play together – one or two regional tryouts they have to do every year, and a camp in Toronto – they all have to be on a regular local team as well. For Ronan, that is the U17 Shuswap Youth Soccer Select Team. After graduation, he’ll pursue a men’s team to keep playing, and maintain his spot on the national team “probably till they kick me off.”
“It’s pretty amazing,” he said of his experiences on the para team. “It was really cool to get to go to Spain.”
Sara seconded that for this life she could never have imagined for her son.
“It’s just cool, right,” she said. “From Salmon Arm to the world.”
