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While much of his development as an up and coming professional player occurred out of the view of the majority of Toronto FC supporters this past season, 19 year old midfielder Manny Aparicio is nonetheless pleased with the progress he made in his first season as a pro and he is hungry for more.
See also: My Perfect Ten: Manny Aparicio
Currently away with Canada’s Men’s U-20 National Team for a series of high profile games against top quality opposition, the TFC Academy graduate spent the majority of his 2014 club campaign on loan to USL PRO side Wilmington Hammerheads, making 19 appearances for the Hammers.
According to the Toronto native, his first season as a professional was a fruitful one even considering that the majority of it was spent away from his parent club.
“My whole experience at Wilmington was great,” Aparicio told RedNation. “Even just living on my own and the life experience was amazing because it was the first time I had been away from home for that long. Then I got back and unfortunately I wasn’t able to play because of the transfer window and all that stuff. But it was a great season for me. I think I’ve improved a lot with all of the games I got down in Wilmington and then being back here and training with the team again. It’s been a pretty good year for me.”
Aparicio signed his first team contract with Toronto FC on August 8, 2013 and became the eighth TFC Academy graduate to move up to the senior team. Given the timing of his signing, he is a player who has had the opportunity to go up again professional players in both the MLS Reserve League and in USL PRO.
With that comparison in mind, the youthful attacking midfielder is not shy in counting himself as someone who sees the merits in Toronto FC having an affiliation with a club in the North American Division III.
“I felt like the Reserve League was very good, but sometimes you would go and you would have some of the older guys who hadn’t played for the first team playing and they didn’t really care as much,” Aparicio explained. “As young boys we were getting into it but the older guys were a bit more lackadaisical. With the USL Pro it was a lot like the MLS in that for the players it was their job and their life.”
“Every game is like the last game for the players,” he added. “Then you have teams like Orlando, Sacramento and Los Angeles who were really good teams and probably MLS caliber. It gives you a good experience playing against them. Even playing against the lower teams, it is a situation where everyone gives 100% and, if they aren’t as skillful, they will still be grinding out the games.”
The Toronto native ultimately capped off his first professional season with his first call-up to the Canadian Men’s National Team, earning his first cap with an appearance against South American powerhouse Colombia in a friendly played in October.
“It was a really good experience,” Aparicio said. “It was the first time playing with De Guzman and all the veterans on the Canadian Men’s Team that we have all been watching. It is great that Benito, Antonio and Rafa all consider me, Jordan (Hamilton) and all the young guys to be part of that caliber.”
While the majority of his Toronto FC teammates are now settling into the offseason after a long 2014 campaign, Aparicio expects to be busy with a Canadian national team program that he sees as another important component in his development as a player.
“In January we will have qualifying for the U20s and hopefully I will get games in there and then we will also have the U23s,” Aparicio explained. “I don’t know yet if I will get called up to that but hopefully I will get called to that team. I think that would be a big step. There is a lot of stuff coming up with the Canadian National Team program where I could get a lot of games in.”
Ultimately, while he has goals that he has set for himself with the national team, the technically gifted midfielder is also focused on eventually making an impact with his hometown club.
“I just have to keep working (towards that goal),” the Canadian International said. “I know that I am a young guy and everyone points that out. But all the young guys are impatient and we all want to play. If it is a loan again next year, I will go again and will come back better and stronger. I hope I am in their plans (at TFC). Maybe not next year and maybe it will be in two years. But I hope that soon enough I will be playing at BMO Field.”
“You never know when your chance will come,” Aparicio added. “With injuries, trades and whatever may happen, you have to be ready to step up when your time comes.”
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