My dad got me in to soccer, both my parents played soccer. As soon as I start playing, my life changed. I started when I was 3. Since that I fell in love with soccer.
From a really young age I knew what I wanted, I wanted to become a professional soccer player. I knew that I had to sacrifice a lot of things such as family, friends and time. When I was 13 I was invited to participate in Provincial team. At the end the coach called me and told me that he couldn’t get me at the team because I was too short.
Indeed after 3 months I diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). At first that had a big impact on me. After I diagnosed with GHD I had to do injections every day.
That was hard for me, I was in pain everyday. I was thinking “why that happened to me”.
It was one of the toughest moments in my life. I remember myself spending hours locked in my room just thinking and crying, but luckily for me soccer was there.
When I was playing soccer, I forgot about my problems, I was more worried of my performance, I guess it was one more reason to exceed expectations. I had thoughts of quitting, but if there is one thing I’ve learn in life, that is to never quit. Through these tough times I always compared myself to my favorite animal which is lion.
Four years later I joined a 3rd division professional team in Greece, one of the most excited days of my life, because I knew that in someway my efforts are being rewarded. One and a half year later I left the team and pursuit my dreams that got me in Canada. I ended up choosing Douglas College. And here I am stronger and better than ever, continuing my journey.
And as I’m saying, “Lions are not like humans, they’ll always find the way to the top where they belong”.
Yiannis Siafakas, Douglas College Soccer.
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