There’s no rest for 19-year-old Scarborough native Fraser Aird who earlier this month wapped up his season with the Glasgow Rangers by being named as the team’s Young Player of the Year at the team banquet on Sunday, May 4.
This week he’s in Florida where he’s joined the Canadian U-20 team for a week-long training camp, which kicked off this past Sunday.
He has also in the past represented Scotland in U-17 and U-19 competition.
He doesn’t become locked into a country, however, until he is capped at the senior level, excluding exhibition games (otherwise known as friendlies).
On April 30, Aird tweeted: "Just to make things clear, I have not made a final decision on what country I would like to play for yet."
He grew up in Scarborugh kicking off his soccer career with the West Rouge Soccer Club and first making the Scarborough Mirror newspaper for a non-soccer athletic achievement – in 2008 he won the Toronto District School Board’s Grade 8 cross country championship while attending Scarborough’s Henry Kelsey Senior Public School.
He then went on to Albert Campbell Collegiate for grades 9 and 10. Meanwhile, in club soccer, his Markham club in 2009 lost the national championship on penalty kicks after winning the Ontario Cup.
In 2011, he headed to Scotland to continue his career in the youth academy of the Rangers – a team he idolized growing up.
He was soon called up to the senior team, however, where he has spent much of the last two seasons, including the entire second half of this season.
There’s no question his ascension was greatly helped by the misfortune suffered by the otherwise storied club which, because of financial matters, was relegated all the way to League 2 (which is the fourth and bottom rung of professional soccer in Scotland) last season.
The club is methodically advancing itself back to the top Premiership level. This year they went undefeated in League One (the third rung of the ladder) with 33 wins and three ties (with Aird contributing seven goals) to advance next season into the Champions league (which is the second rung).
This season, Aird got his first start in November at Arbroath and never looked back.
"I’ve kicked on from there. I had 20 starts in a row which was a massive achievement for me," he said in an interview on www.rangers.co.uk
"It’s a big thing for a young boy at a club like Rangers and I’m really happy with how my season has gone. The gaffer (manager Ally McCoist) has shown a lot of faith in me.
"I’ve got to thank my team-mates. Without them I wouldn’t have got my award and now I want to kick on again next season and keep progressing."
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