INSIDE THE RED BULL
FOUR 2 SCORE
CANADIAN FINALS
Words: Thomas Hewitt
Photos: André Varty
On the surface, it’s ordinary.
A peek through the fences surrounding York Lions Stadium on the first weekend of July revealed soccer games taking place, hardly a commodity at the venue, which hosts two professional clubs.
Venture inside, and what’s unfolding isn’t as ordinary as it appeared.
There’s a notable intensity to these matches, four-versus-four bouts under the beating Toronto sun, soundtracked by thumping electronic music from a DJ. The participants aren’t just anybody either, a keen Canadian soccer eye will spot a few former professionals in the men’s half of the competition. And, the obvious factor, this event isn’t a community get-together, but rather the culmination of a series of mini-tournaments across Canada by Red Bull, dubbed the Four 2 Score tournament. The winners of the men’s and women’s brackets head to Salzburg, Austria, for the global finals.
It’s here, surrounded by the waft of sunscreen and the sounds of cans cracking open, where I meet Mauricio di Granados. He’s the coach of the men’s tournament’s biggest underdogs: Academia FC Part 2. Visibly younger than their rivals, Academia caught my eye as an outlier, struggling to keep possession and their heads on when poor calls went against them.
As it turned out, Academia was indeed significantly junior to their opponents. Mauricio explained that this team is a group of 2006- and 07-born kids who met at the YMCA and started playing together. His son, who played as a sort of goalkeeper (rules prevent an actual netminder), and seemingly a few others, have a futsal background, which fits the FIFA Street-style mini-pitches.
Their unique story doesn’t end there, though. Academia was called in at the last minute before Sunday’s national finals because the team they lost to in the previous day’s qualifier was disqualified for fielding two non-Canadian citizens.
Mauricio preached the importance of taking advantage of moments because few would come their way. Academia had nothing to lose, so they defied all odds to reach the final, beating a team decorated with former Canadian Premier League players who dubbed themselves BMO Corporate Accounting along the way.
A peek through the fences surrounding York Lions Stadium on the first weekend of July revealed soccer games taking place, hardly a commodity at the venue, which hosts two professional clubs.
Venture inside, and what’s unfolding isn’t as ordinary as it appeared.
There’s a notable intensity to these matches, four-versus-four bouts under the beating Toronto sun, soundtracked by thumping electronic music from a DJ. The participants aren’t just anybody either, a keen Canadian soccer eye will spot a few former professionals in the men’s half of the competition. And, the obvious factor, this event isn’t a community get-together, but rather the culmination of a series of mini-tournaments across Canada by Red Bull, dubbed the Four 2 Score tournament. The winners of the men’s and women’s brackets head to Salzburg, Austria, for the global finals.
It’s here, surrounded by the waft of sunscreen and the sounds of cans cracking open, where I meet Mauricio di Granados. He’s the coach of the men’s tournament’s biggest underdogs: Academia FC Part 2. Visibly younger than their rivals, Academia caught my eye as an outlier, struggling to keep possession and their heads on when poor calls went against them.
As it turned out, Academia was indeed significantly junior to their opponents. Mauricio explained that this team is a group of 2006- and 07-born kids who met at the YMCA and started playing together. His son, who played as a sort of goalkeeper (rules prevent an actual netminder), and seemingly a few others, have a futsal background, which fits the FIFA Street-style mini-pitches.
Their unique story doesn’t end there, though. Academia was called in at the last minute before Sunday’s national finals because the team they lost to in the previous day’s qualifier was disqualified for fielding two non-Canadian citizens.
Mauricio preached the importance of taking advantage of moments because few would come their way. Academia had nothing to lose, so they defied all odds to reach the final, beating a team decorated with former Canadian Premier League players who dubbed themselves BMO Corporate Accounting along the way.
The Red Bull Four 2 Score competition isn’t just about playing soccer; it’s about what playing soccer can look like. That’s why Montréal native Mathilde Fortier, a top-five freestyler in the world, is one of the special guests. As two Vancouver women’s teams battle it out, she’s in the background doing a ridiculous juggling trick while lying on the turf.
“I love the vibe and I love meeting new people all around the country, it’s great for that,” Mathilde told me. “You just meet people, learn skills, teach skills, or share with other people, that’s great.”
As a freestyler, Mathilde has experience in novel footballing showcases and pushing the boundaries of what the sport can be.
“Even though football is great, I love when we try new things,” she said.
Mathilde has trained every day for years to improve her freestyling, something she initially didn’t think she could do until she encountered videos of it on YouTube. “I just found myself in freestyle, it’s a way to express myself and gain confidence,” Mathilde added.
A captivating freestyle show by Mathilde before a special creator's game was a highlight of the day. She was on the lookout for fancy tricks in the matches, and the results didn’t disappoint.
“One girl from Vancouver, she did a flick-up then kicked the ball over someone, I was like, ‘That’s pretty good,’” Mathilde said, smiling.
Unfortunately, the Vancouverites’ tekkers didn’t translate to wins. Sakura Kicks was beaten 10-0 by the reigning champions Skunteze FC, from Pickering, in the semifinals. Skunteze had the opportunity to go to the global finals a year ago and didn’t waver on their journey to return. Experience showed against Randoms FC in the final, determined by a one-on-one golden goal duel, a nerve-wracking (yet very fun) aspect of Four 2 Score.
“I love the vibe and I love meeting new people all around the country, it’s great for that,” Mathilde told me. “You just meet people, learn skills, teach skills, or share with other people, that’s great.”
As a freestyler, Mathilde has experience in novel footballing showcases and pushing the boundaries of what the sport can be.
“Even though football is great, I love when we try new things,” she said.
Mathilde has trained every day for years to improve her freestyling, something she initially didn’t think she could do until she encountered videos of it on YouTube. “I just found myself in freestyle, it’s a way to express myself and gain confidence,” Mathilde added.
A captivating freestyle show by Mathilde before a special creator's game was a highlight of the day. She was on the lookout for fancy tricks in the matches, and the results didn’t disappoint.
“One girl from Vancouver, she did a flick-up then kicked the ball over someone, I was like, ‘That’s pretty good,’” Mathilde said, smiling.
Unfortunately, the Vancouverites’ tekkers didn’t translate to wins. Sakura Kicks was beaten 10-0 by the reigning champions Skunteze FC, from Pickering, in the semifinals. Skunteze had the opportunity to go to the global finals a year ago and didn’t waver on their journey to return. Experience showed against Randoms FC in the final, determined by a one-on-one golden goal duel, a nerve-wracking (yet very fun) aspect of Four 2 Score.
“We’ve grown up playing together, a lot of the girls play on the same club team back in Pickering, and I coach them,” said Kristen, who played for Skunteze last year as well.
“The way the game plays, the first minute and last minute are worth double points, anything can happen, right? We were up 2-0 [in the final], they came back and scored a goal in the last minute… we wanted it a little bit more.”
Skunteze’s determination will be key in Austria.
“When we went last year, it was a whole other level. We’ve got some time to prepare, we’ll be up for the challenge when we get there,” Kristen added.
The grand finale of a long day was the men’s final between Academia and Risky Business, a fellow dark horse. Risky Business controlled possession, but a crazy bounce found Theo, one of the youngest in the group, who had scored a stunning brace in the semifinal win. He made no mistake, and Academia carried this momentum to a shocking victory.
“I’m either gonna cry or be the happiest man on Earth,” Mauricio told me as he counted down the seconds. Turns out it was closer to somewhere in the middle with tears of joy.
“I can’t believe it,” Theo, draped in a Canadian flag, said after the final. “Like yesterday, it was a sad day, we lost, and then we heard good news, and we came back, we stayed in the hotel, played teams from all over Canada.”
“We worked our f***ing asses off,” another Academia player, the captain, said. “Two days of blood, sweat, sunburns.”
“It was all worth it,” Theo added.
A trip to Austria awaits.
First things first, though, is depositing the trophy somewhere safe. Only one place would be fitting.
“Now we’ve got to take it back to the YMCA,” a beaming Mauricio said.
Such is life for the ballers of the everyday.
“The way the game plays, the first minute and last minute are worth double points, anything can happen, right? We were up 2-0 [in the final], they came back and scored a goal in the last minute… we wanted it a little bit more.”
Skunteze’s determination will be key in Austria.
“When we went last year, it was a whole other level. We’ve got some time to prepare, we’ll be up for the challenge when we get there,” Kristen added.
The grand finale of a long day was the men’s final between Academia and Risky Business, a fellow dark horse. Risky Business controlled possession, but a crazy bounce found Theo, one of the youngest in the group, who had scored a stunning brace in the semifinal win. He made no mistake, and Academia carried this momentum to a shocking victory.
“I’m either gonna cry or be the happiest man on Earth,” Mauricio told me as he counted down the seconds. Turns out it was closer to somewhere in the middle with tears of joy.
“I can’t believe it,” Theo, draped in a Canadian flag, said after the final. “Like yesterday, it was a sad day, we lost, and then we heard good news, and we came back, we stayed in the hotel, played teams from all over Canada.”
“We worked our f***ing asses off,” another Academia player, the captain, said. “Two days of blood, sweat, sunburns.”
“It was all worth it,” Theo added.
A trip to Austria awaits.
First things first, though, is depositing the trophy somewhere safe. Only one place would be fitting.
“Now we’ve got to take it back to the YMCA,” a beaming Mauricio said.
Such is life for the ballers of the everyday.
