A couple of years ago Devin O’Hea was living the dream of many young West Coast soccer players, suiting up for the vaunted youth program of Whitecaps FC while getting a shot with the U17 national team.
In grades 9 and 10 the North Vancouver native, who had been going to Argyle Secondary, started travelling to Burnaby every day where he would go to school at Burnaby Central before taking part in soccer training sessions led by elite coaches alongside many of the best youth players in the country.
“It was amazing,” O’Hea says. “Great coaching, great teammates – amazing program.”
There was a problem though, nothing at all to do with what the program offered, but everything to do with what it didn’t.
“The only problem was that I couldn’t play other sports,” says O’Hea. “That was it.”
And so, in an age in which elite athletes are often pushed into sport specialization, O’Hea chose to go the other way. In Grade 11 he returned to Argyle and resumed playing, well, almost everything.
A star in football, soccer and basketball, O’Hea has put his stamp all over several Argyle Piper teams while also rejoining Mountain United FC of the B.C. Soccer Premier League.
“It’s awesome, amazing,” O’Hea says about what it’s been like to get back in action with all his old friends. “I have a special bond with these guys because I’ve known them since elementary school.”
This fall O’Hea is pulling triple duty, suiting up for both the Argyle football and soccer teams as well as Mountain United.
“Mostly it’s two sports a day, sometimes three,” he says with a laugh. Last week O’Hea pulled off a bicycle kick goal – “It was the best goal I’ve ever scored in my career” he says – in a 2-1 win for Argyle over league-leading Sentinel in North Shore senior boys AAA soccer action.
It’s on the football field, however, where O’Hea may be making the biggest impression as a wide receiver and a safety for the Pipers. Through three regular season games he is leading all AA teams in the province in total receptions and receiving yards – he’s averaging 101 receiving yards per game on offence while also leading the league in total tackles with 35. He’s even taken over kicking duties, blasting big punts and kickoffs while turning those soccer skills into accurate attempts at field goals and converts.
“In my opinion – being a football vet for a long time, with no bias – he just sticks out,” says Argyle head coach Wayne Theobald. “Usually after every game the (opposing) coach will come over to me and say, ‘that No. 13 is a pretty special player.’”
O’Hea says football is the sport that ultimately pulled him away from full-time soccer. He started playing flag football for coach Theobald in Grade 6 and was sad to say goodbye to the sport when he joined the Whitecaps program.
“I had never put my heart completely into football,” O’Hea says. “It was always one-minded in soccer. I decided if I did put all my time into football, would it benefit me more than soccer did? I think it has. I think I have made the right decision.”
Theobald certainly thinks O’Hea made the right decision. The coach remembers watching O’Hea on the flag football field when he was first learning the game.
“He was always a good athlete, but he had a bit different body type when he was younger,” Theobald says with a laugh. “He wasn’t super chubby, but he wasn’t the lean machine he is now. And then maybe around 11 or 12, one year he was one kid and then the next it was BOOM.”
What does he mean by boom?
“He’s probably one of the most naturally talented athletes we’ve ever had at Argyle,” Theobald says. “He’s probably one of the best tacklers we’ve ever had. He’s also one of the most physical kids we’ve ever had on defence.”
More than a year removed from the Whitecaps program, O’Hea still ponders his tough decision to leave.
“(I) miss my old buddies in the program, the soccer, training every day,” he says. But he’s convinced he made the right decision, adding his voice to the growing chorus of players, coaches and sports administrators who argue that a multi-sport approach is the healthiest way to develop a young athlete.
“I think you benefit more if you play more sports,” says O’Hea. “The footwork I learned in basketball has benefitted me in soccer and football. And the soccer skills with my feet have benefitted me in basketball and football. It just translates into different sports.”
Theobald wholeheartedly agrees, and not just because he got his star player back.
“Playing high school sports is a special experience,” he says. “It just comes and goes so fast. I think it was a really good call for him. After a while if you just focus on one sport – especially if you’re in Grade 10 when you start doing it – you’ll get burned out. … If you’re passionate about a sport, but all of a sudden you’re just doing the same sport over and over, 12 months a year, a lot of kids feel that by the time they reach Grade 11 or 12 it’s not even fun for them anymore. When you play multi-sports you use different body motions, you become a better athlete. And in football, or any sport, we’re always looking for athletes.”
Advocates for the multi-sport approach also cite expanded social networks as well as the reduced risk of overuse injuries and benefits of a multi-sport approach.
O’Hea is hoping his approach will help him land a university scholarship, adding that he’s received a lot of interest from football and soccer programs in Canada and the United States.
Before then, however, he’ll be hunting provincial glory with the Pipers.
In soccer Argyle will take on Handsworth in a must-win playoff matchup Thursday, Nov. 2 starting at 3 p.m. at Ambleside D.
On the football field he and his teammates will play their last regular season game of the year one day later, taking on John Barsby on Friday, Nov. 3, starting at noon at William Griffin turf field. Theobald says he’s happy he’ll have a front row seat for the show.
“Devin has been a highlight video machine this year,” he says. “He’s had so many spectacular catches over the season. … He always kind of stands out, just his athleticism.”
