Ten-year-old Yuuma Tabbaa’s skills are attracting European attention.
Soccer is the most played team sport around the world. From Norway to Ghana, Brazil to Japan, France to Australia, people love the thrill of watching two teams of eleven players try to kick a ball into the other team’s net. GOOOOAAAALLLLL!
But even if soccer (or football as it is also called) is a global sport, some countries are better known for their players and clubs than others. Spain is a big soccer nation. So are England, Argentina, Mexico, and Germany. And for Canada? For years, not so much. But things are changing!
Meet Yuuma Tabbaa. He is a 10-year-old soccer player from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories who has used his exceptional talent to defy all the odds. Despite living in a city known for its long winters, he has managed to capture the attention of Spanish football scouts. In March 2024, he was invited to represent Canada at a tournament run by one of the world’s greatest clubs, Real Madrid!
News-O-Matic (NOM) spoke with Yuuma (YT) and his father, Maher (MT), about his exciting journey discovering his talent, getting to play in Europe, and the possibility of one day playing for Canada.
NOM: Yuuma, when did you start playing soccer?
YT: I started playing when I was very young. I was kicking the ball inside of the house when I was four or five years old.
NOM: Were you just amusing yourself or did you have friends to play soccer with at school?
MT: When Yuuma was a toddler, his sister, Aima, was the one playing soccer. She is three years older than him. He tried to mimic her moves. Then he joined one of the clubs here in town. And from there, the journey started.
NOM: How early did you both know that Yuuma had real talent?
MT: I remember when Yuuma was five years old, his coach told me this kid is special, man. And I was like, “Okay, he’s only five!” But you could see that he had that special touch, compared to the other five-year-olds at that time.
NOM: What made you different, Yuuma?
YT: I could dribble past people. Good passes and pretty good shots and stuff.
MT: He would get the ball and then go in between players until he got to the goal. That was different about him. He had those dribbling techniques that you really cannot teach at five. Normally, you just throw the ball to the kids. “This is the goal here. Go score!”
But he would be doing technical dribbles all naturally. And if he lost the ball, he went back to take it.
NOM: Passing is another really hard thing to teach at a young age. Do you enjoy passing, Yuuma? Do you have a favourite soccer position to play?
YT: Yeah, I like passing. I like midfield. I am more of an attacking midfielder.
NOM: I heard that your favorite player is Lionel Messi.
YT: Yeah. He’s pretty special.
MT: And so humble, too. Love that Yuuma loves an idol like this. He is one of the greatest ever in soccer. And at the same time, he’s humble and chill and quiet. I think this is more of Yuuma’s character, too.
NOM: How often do you train, Yuuma?
YT: Well, with my club I have like three sessions with them a week. And when there’s no training, I like doing workouts and drills in the house.
NOM: It must be interesting training in Yellowknife since the seasons are so different.
MT: In summertime, we go to the pitches in the city, play, train, do drills, meet other kids. Yuuma was saying how the sun stays out so long, we can even play outside until midnight! But winter, unfortunately, it’s too cold and it’s all snow for six or seven months. So we keep on being indoors most of the time or all the time for soccer. He’s a busy kid!
NOM: Yes! How do you fit all that in and still do school?
YT: I go to school, then after school, I do like all my soccer stuff that I have to do.
NOM: Are you excited to do it?
YT: Yeah. It’s fun.
NOM: I heard that in Yellowknife, you train with lots of older kids. What are the differences playing against older kids versus kids who are your own age?
YT: The older kids, it’s harder. So I could try to play harder.
NOM: So the more challenging it is, the better you play?
YT: Yeah, yeah.
NOM: Speaking of challenges, you’ve also been invited to play in Spain. How did that all start?
MT: A friend of mine who took his daughter to this Real Madrid-sponsored camp in Edmonton in 2022. He explained to me that the camp is good, you should try it. This is how we went to our first one in 2023.
NOM: And then you were being asked to play on a Canadian team for a Real Madrid World Challenge?
MT: We knew that every year they chose one or two from each camp at each age group to form a team Canada to compete in Madrid. I explained this to Yuuma. So before, we did drills, drills, drills. And during the drills, I was like, “Hey, man, you want to make it to Madrid?” So it was kind of motivation for him to work harder during drill. Then he went to the camp and he showed his quality.
After the end of the camp, we were having breakfast in the hotel. And I got an email. Yuuma was selected as one of the best players in the camp to attend this Real Madrid World Challenge! We were all happy at that moment. The smile on his face was priceless.
NOM: What club do you want to play for most?
YT: When I’m older, I want to play for Real Madrid.
NOM: Recently, the Canadian men’s national team has been getting better and better. Wou
ld you like to play for the national team one day?
YT: Yeah. When I’m older, I want to play for them and win the World Cup!
MT: If he plays for Team Canada, that would be an honour for all of us, of course. And I believe football in Canada is getting really better. It’s getting more attention from youngsters, attention from other countries. You see a lot of our Canadian players started branching out to Europe now. That’s great.
NOM: We certainly hope that you will join them one day, Yuuma. Best of luck!
By John CrossinghamUpdated January 16, 2025, 5:00 P.M. (ET)
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