Hunter Valley Grammar student Oscar Stenz is a typical 12-year-old embarking on his first year of high school, until you put a soccer ball at his feet.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
His polite, humble persona is transformed and he becomes an international football captain willing to push himself to the limits to secure victory for his team.
Oscar achieved that sporting dream when he captained the under-12 Australian Futsal team to victory at the Borneo International Futsal Tournament in November last year.
The youngster, who plays with the Maitland Magpies under-13 NPL team, gets another chance after being selected in the Australian under-13 team to tour Barcelona in Spain later this year.
It’s a way off and so too are his dreams of playing A-League and eventually signing a European contract in the outdoor game.
It will takes years of hard work, dedication and a splash of luck, but you need to have goals and one of those is learning German at school so he can read his contract if he secures a place in Germany’s top flight Bundesliga.
“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to play A-League and even more to make it in Europe,” Oscar said.
“You have to do a lot of work on your own game, but it’s a team sport and you need to help your teammates and contribute to the team.”
Oscar is modest and not comfortable talking about his own achievements but when you change tack and question him about the team’s performance he speaks with pride and excitement about Australia’s come-from-behind win in the Borneo tournament final.
“The scores were level and we scored a goal, but it was disallowed and their keeper was awarded a penalty and they scored to take the lead with only a couple of minutes left,” he said.
“It wasn’t a penalty and we weren’t going to let them get away with it. We managed to score a goal and then I got the winner.”
In captain’s style, Stenz scored the winner from near the halfway mark and then calmly turned around and prepared to defend until the final whistle was blown.