Adored by many, played by few! Vahan Avanesyan is a very hardworking 12 year old born January 14, 1999 in Los Angeles. Vahan is a great soccer player who is very dedicated to his work. Not only does Vahan play soccer, but also he has been in judo, basketball, and tae kwon do. When he was 5 years old he started judo at Gokor’s Hayastan Academy. On his first tournament, Vahan won third place with an orange belt. Eventually, he left judo and started basketball at age 6. He was part of the Homenetmen team. He became a team captain and was #17. While in basketball, he started tae kwon do at Arman’s Tae kwon do at age 8. On his first tournament, he won first place with a green belt. He quit tae kwon do at age 9 but continued basketball. In 2009 he decided to quit and start soccer.

     Soccer is what Vahan lives for. His cousin’s spouse Yura Movsisyan, who’s a professional soccer player for F.C. Krosnadar, had inspired Vahan to play soccer. April 11, 2009 was an amazing day for him because he started his first soccer class. Before he was put on a team, he was tested for his abilities. They saw that he was so great, they put this 10 year old in Youth 14 instead of Youth 10. He played a whole season in Youth 14, since they were missing a player. He won a prize for being the youngest and most hardworking in Youth 14. He scored the most goals at such a young age. Once he turned 11, they had to put him in Youth 11 because Youth 14 was full. He went to his age group of Levon Ishtoyan’s Academy of Youth 11. Before Vahan, the team was 10th place. Once Vahan joined, they became 1st place. The team has scored 108 goals so far this season, in which Vahan is responsible for 54 of them. He is working hard to make more goals for this season. Now, they are known as the #1 Armenian soccer team in California. Vahan is a dedicated hard worker trying to chase his dreams in becoming a professional soccer player in F.C. Barcelona. He devotes all his leisure time to his soccer. He practices at home everyday and enjoys every moment of it. Nothing can be better than being a great soccer player!

     

     

- Written by Shushan Oktanyan