Introduction
Kyle Bekker (born September 2, 1990) is a Canadian soccer player.
Career
Youth
Bekker was born in Oakville, Ontario and began his youth soccer career with the Oakville Bluestars, winning back-to-back Ontario Cup Championships in 2004 and 2005 and a National Championship in 2004. In 2006, he moved onto the Mississauga Dixie Dominators, where he won the Ontario Cup in 2006 and 2007 adding another National Championship in 2006. In 2007, he also played with Sigma FC, where in March of that year, his team played eight matches in the Netherlands against professional youth academies. His time over there earned him a trial with Ajax's youth academy, which ended up lasting six weeks until his inability to receive a European work permit led to his return to Canada.
At 18, helped Sigma FC climb the ranks for the Ontario Soccer League Men's Divisions. Over his four years in the OSL, Bekker scored 28 goals and registered 35 assists. He played with former Toronto FC teammate Emery Welshman during this period.
Bekker eventually received interest from colleges in the United States before accepting a scholarship to attend Boston College. During his four years at Boston College, Bekker played in 80 games, starting 79 of those, while scoring 17 goals and adding 22 assists. He picked up several awards on his way including ACC All-Freshman-Team in 2009 and ACC All-First-Team in 2011 and 2012.
Bekker trained with Toronto FC during the summer of 2011, and then trained with Montreal Impact and Seattle Sounders in the Summer of 2012. He had a trial with Crystal Palace in December 2012, before work permit issues led to signing a pro contract with MLS and entering the MLS Draft.
Professional
Bekker signed a contract with MLS on January 6, 2013. He was drafted third overall in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC on January 17, 2013. Bekker made his debut for Toronto on March 2, in a 1-0 away defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
On January 21, 2015, Bekker was traded to FC Dallas in exchange for allocation money. He made his debut for Dallas as a substitute for Fabian Castillo on March 14 in a 3-1 victory against Sporting Kansas City.
On July 16, 2015, Bekker was traded to Montreal Impact in exchange for central defender Bakary Soumaré.
Bekker was released by Montreal on December 9, 2016.
International
Bekker played in the 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. On January 18, 2013, he received his first call up by the Canadian national team for friendlies against Denmark and United States. Bekker made his senior team debut as a starter against Denmark, the game ended in a 4-0 defeat. On June 27, 2013 Bekker was listed as a part of the confirmed 23-man squad for Colin Miller's Canada squad for 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Career statistics
Club
- As of September 7, 2016.
| Club | League | Season | League | Playoffs | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Toronto FC | MLS | 2013 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 2014 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
| Total | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
| FC Dallas | MLS | 2015 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Total | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Montreal Impact | MLS | 2015 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2016 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| Total | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | ||
| FC Montreal (loan) | USL | 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Career Total | 59 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 2 | ||
International
| Canada national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2013 | 11 | 0 |
| 2014 | 2 | 0 |
| 2015 | 3 | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 18 | 0 |
- As of January 22, 2017