Varsity Blues midfielder Dylan Bams has been a standout player for the U of T soccer team for the past five years.
The phys-ed major has been playing soccer since the age of four, or as he puts it, “as long as I can remember.” Having graduated from Georges P. Vanier High School in Courtenay, British Columbia, Bams immediately began searching for a school to play soccer at the university level. He sent letters of interest to universities across Canada and shortly after was called by the Varsity Blues coach Anthony Capotosto inviting him to a recruiting trip. He impressed the coaches, and was given a spot on the team. His new career on the other side of the country had just begun.
Instantly, Bams says, he was warmly welcomed to the team: “the team took me in.” He was most inspired by Lawrence Buchan, a now-graduated U of T alumus that previously starred for the Varsity Blues team. “I remember a game where he had both of his knees bandaged and had to take pain pills to play and still was by far the best player on the field.”
Bams, though a quiet player, explained that he personally makes his best effort at being a leader by “leading by example” — earning OUA all-star honors for four straight seasons. This past season, the team lacked core leadership and needed one of its older veterans to step up. Bams showed his love for the team by embracing a more vocal leadership role while also continuing to impress on the pitch.
The Blues midfielder vividly remembers his two most memorable goals, both game-winners against the Carleton Ravens. The first came in the 88th minute to put Toronto over the top during his first year. The second, mirroring the first in some ways, came in brilliant fashion in the 93rd minute in his final year, scoring with a backheel on a corner kick that sent the ball into the top right corner; Bams is modest enough to call the goal a “complete fluke.” Winning against the school that is “definitely one of our rivals” only served as the cherry on top.
Bams calls his time at the University of Toronto “the best experience of my life.” He chuckles when asked about balancing time between school and soccer saying that Toronto academically by being one of the top schools in the world is undoubtedly “demanding” and laughed saying time management was never his strong suit. The strain of academics at U of T is overwhelming for most students and only becomes more difficult with added commitments such as Varsity sports. Bams recounts playing two 90 minute games on Saturdays and Sundays and the ensuing difficulty of getting up at 9am the next day for class.
Bams says that he will miss playing in downtown Toronto in such a professional looking Varsity Stadium and, looking back, feels he took it for granted entering the field for games and feels so “privileged” to have been a member of the team. He competed in 3 championships for the team and described the elite soccer program at Toronto as “very professional” and “welcoming.” He will be leaving the team “loaded with potential” and hopes to continue his career in the FISU, a European based league. If he makes the team he will be traveling to Russia to continue his soccer career. He describes his Varsity Blues teammates as his “second family” and that leaving will “leave a hole in my life that I will have to fill.”
Wherever Bams ends up making his new home, he will be leaving behind a legacy of not only a great soccer player for the university but a great leader and teammate. While he will miss his time as a player and a student, he knows he will always have a family here in Toronto.
