Noah Glickman, a 14-year-old soccer player raised in Fernie and now living in Kimberley, joined a U18 African team and went on to win an international tournament in Morocco.
The Bulletin caught up with his father Markus Glickman, a former soccer coach in the Kootenays, to hear about this experience.
Noah was playing soccer for a club in Spain called the International Development Academy (IDA), who asked him to join the IDA Select team at the inaugural Surf Cup tournament in Morocco. He played with players from South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.
"There were four members of the National Junior Team for Ghana on his team — this is super high level," Glickman said. "He was also asked as a 14-year-old to play in a U18 division, which is quite an honour."
Noah went to Morocco directly from the BC Games in Maple Ridge, during which he captained the U15 Kootenay team and won bronze.
In addition to the opportunity to compete with elite international players, many of whom much older than himself, Noah also took on a different role on the soccer pitch than what he's typically accustomed to.
"They played him as a holding midfielder, which is really about distributing the ball from a good keeper up the pitch," Glickman explained. "He typically plays more of an attacking role, but with these older, faster kids he had to redefine himself a little bit. He was asked to start each game."
Glickman and the rest of the family accompanied Noah in Morocco for a week, and they were there to see him and the team win the tournament.
"Just as a dad, watching your son join a diverse group of really dedicated players and to see him be respected and welcomed — that’s a pretty cool experience, just as a father," Glickman said. Glickman coached his son for a number of years, but said he's "just a parent now."
"I took him as far as I think I could, but he now needs to be coached by higher level people than me."
This was also somewhat of a full-circle experience for Glickman, beyond seeing his son excel in the sport he's passionate about. Back in 2021, Glickman helped coordinate an effort from the U12 boys and U13 girls teams of the Fernie United Soccer Club to donate soccer uniforms, cleats and equipment to a village in Rwanda.
"Noah was involved with sending gear to Rwanda and then three years later he’s actually playing with African teammates. It’s absolutely a neat way of connecting some of the dots," Glickman reflected.
"I think specifically the idea of going to Morocco intrigued us because, if you look at their success in the last World Cup, and they’re hosting some games in the 2030 World Cup, it’s a country very much in ascendency with soccer. On a sporting level it ticked some boxes and on a cultural level it did as well."
Looking ahead, Noah has a very busy upcoming rest of 2024. He's been invited to the Boy's College Showcase tournament in North Carolina to play with a team from the coast, and then he will head back to Spain in November for a tournament.
Noah has played for much of his life and started taking the sport more seriously at age 10. Glickman said he believes his son's goal is to see how far he can go with the sport.
"He came out of this tournament realizing that he can play at a very high level, with kids substantially older. So he definitely wants to see how far he can take it like any kid dedicated to their sport," he said, adding that the connection with these other players from across Africa was the highlight of the trip.
"I think looking for experiences that allow for him to connect with other people from around the world is a big part of it," Glickman said. "And then as a player he’s just recognizing that you need to pack your suitcase to look for opportunities at those higher levels."
