Kyle Bekker

Kyle Edward Bekker (born September 2, 1990) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Forge FC, of which he is the captain.

Kyle Bekker
Bekker playing for Toronto FC in 2013
Personal information
Full name Kyle Edward Bekker
Date of birth (1990-09-02) September 2, 1990
Place of birth Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Forge FC
Number 10
Youth career
Oakville Blue Stars
2006–2007 Mississauga Dixie Dominators
2007–2009 Sigma FC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Boston College Eagles 80 (17)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Toronto FC 29 (0)
2015 FC Dallas 8 (0)
2015 FC Montreal 1 (0)
2015–2016 Montreal Impact 21 (2)
2017 San Francisco Deltas 28 (3)
2018 North Carolina FC 33 (7)
2019– Forge FC 28 (5)
National team‡
2012 Canada U23 4 (0)
2013–2017 Canada 18 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 16, 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of January 22, 2017

Club 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.[1] 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.[2]

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.[2] 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.

Toronto FC

Bekker signed a contract with MLS on January 6, 2013.[3] He was drafted third overall in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC on January 17, 2013.[4] Bekker made his debut for Toronto on March 2, in a 1–0 away defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.[5]

FC Dallas

On January 21, 2015, Bekker was transferred to FC Dallas.[6] He made his debut for Dallas as a substitute for Fabian Castillo on March 14 in a 3–1 victory against Sporting Kansas City.[7]

Montreal Impact

On July 16, 2015, Bekker was transferred to Montreal Impact in exchange for central defender Bakary Soumaré.[8] Bekker was released by Montreal on December 9, 2016.[9]

San Francisco Deltas

After four seasons in MLS, Bekker signed with the San Francisco Deltas of the NASL.[10] Bekker would win the 2017 Soccer Bowl with the Deltas in their inaugural season.[11] The Deltas would cease operations three days after winning the Soccer Bowl, leaving Bekker to look for a new club.[12]

North Carolina FC

Bekker signed with USL side North Carolina FC on February 6, 2018.[13]

Bekker has appeared on the Raleigh City Sports podcast twice. The first recording went missing which has been called "The Lost Tapes of Raleigh" [14]

Forge FC

In November 2018, Bekker joined Forge FC of the new Canadian Premier League.[15] Bekker would cite the desire of starting for a new club in a new league as motivation for the move.[16] In April 2019, Bekker was named the first captain in team history.[17] On April 27, 2019, he participated in the first ever game in Canadian Premier League history, as Forge hosted York9 FC and battled them to a 1–1 draw.[18] In the 2019 Canadian Premier League season, Forge finished as the runners up in both the spring and fall seasons, qualifying them for the 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals where they faced off against Cavalry FC over two legs. Forge won both games 1–0 to win the North Star Shield and become the first ever Canadian Premier League champions.[19] Bekker also played all four of Forge's games in the 2019 CONCACAF League, in which they defeated Antigua GFC in the first round but were defeated in the round of sixteen by Olimpia.[20] Bekker finished the 2019 season with five assists, tied for first in the league with five other players.[21] He also scored four league goals, as well as one in the Canadian Championship.[22]

International career

Bekker played in the 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. On January 18, 2013, he received his first call up by the Canada national team for friendlies against Denmark and United States.[23] Bekker made his senior team debut as a starter against Denmark, the game ended in a 4–0 defeat.[24] 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.[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of matches played on November 2, 2019[26][27]
ClubSeasonLeaguePlayoffsCupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Toronto FC 2013 Major League Soccer 90—20—110
2014 Major League Soccer 200—40—240
Total 290006000350
FC Dallas 2015 Major League Soccer 80—10—90
FC Montreal 2015 United Soccer League 10———10
Montreal Impact 2015 Major League Soccer 3110000041
2016 Major League Soccer 1810020—201
Total 212102000242
San Francisco Deltas 2017 NASL 2832031—334
North Carolina FC 2018 United Soccer League 337—30—367
Forge FC 2019 Canadian Premier League 264202140345
Career total 14616501724017218

International
As of January 22, 2017
Canada national team
YearAppsGoals
2013110
201420
201530
201610
201710
Total180

Honours

Club

San Francisco Deltas

Forge FC

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References
  1. "REGIONAL ID CAMP 2003 BOYS SELECTIONS". Archived from the original on June 15, 2013.
  2. "Boston College Athletics: Bekker, Kyle". www.bceagles.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  3. "Bekker signs MLS contract team TBD". www.sportsnet.ca.
  4. "MLS SuperDraft: Toronto land both their targets and more". January 17, 2013.
  5. MacMahon, Martin (March 2, 2013). "Reds Fall Short". Toronto FC. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  6. "Toronto FC trades MF Bekker to FC Dallas for allocation money - Article - TSN". January 20, 2015.
  7. "FC Dallas vs. Sporting Kansas City - MLS MatchCenter". March 14, 2015.
  8. "Montreal Impact trade Bakary Soumare to FC Dallas in exchange for Canadian international Kyle Bekker". July 16, 2015.
  9. "Impact exercises options for seven players". December 9, 2016.
  10. San Francisco Deltas (February 6, 2017). "Team News: Player Announcement". Medium.com.
  11. "San Francisco Deltas shut out New York Cosmosto win NASL title in front of home fans". NASL. November 12, 2017.
  12. Daniel Mano (November 15, 2017). "San Francisco soccer club folds after winning title in inaugural season". The Mercury News.
  13. http://www.northcarolinafc.com/news_article/show/884000?referrer_id=3599784
  14. http://raleighcitysports.com/2018/08/05/ep-62-ncfcs-kyle-bekker-skinner-trade-courage-clinch
  15. Neil Davidson (November 29, 2018). "Ledgerwood, Bekker highlight first wave of Canadian Premier League signings". Prince George Citizen. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  16. Oliver Platt (January 11, 2019). "'We'll prove everyone wrong': Forge FC's Bekker leads charge for Canadians returning home". Canadian Premier League.
  17. "'Leading by example': Kyle Bekker named Forge FC captain". Canadian Premier League. April 24, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  18. "5 things we learned from CPL's inaugural weekend". Canadian Premier League. April 27, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  19. "Forge FC defeat Cavalry FC to win first Canadian Premier League title - Sportsnet.ca". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  20. "HIGHLIGHTS: Forge bows out of CONCACAF League with loss to Olimpia". Canadian Premier League. August 30, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  21. "League Leaders". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  22. "Canada - K. Bekker - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". ca.soccerway.com. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  23. "Canada MNT names young squad for January camp - Canada Soccer". www.canadasoccer.com.
  24. "Inexperienced Canada overpowered by Denmark". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  25. "Canada Finalize roster for Gold Cup, announces friendly". Canada Soccer. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  26. "Kyle Bekker » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  27. "K. Bekker". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
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