Joey McGuire: unstoppable soccer player

Truly talented and humble at the same time, Joey McGuire is a soccer player and student at the University of Ottawa who is accumulating the victories. It goes without saying, he is a dedicated student and brilliant athlete. Now living in Aylmer, he is playing for the Gee-Gee’s. The 25-year-old athlete is the non-official leader of his team, technically a little bit older than his teammates. 

Joey grew up in Ottawa, and loves the region. He went to high school in the country’s capital. They didn’t have a sport-study program when he was attending high school, but still managed to practice his favourite sport and go to Provincial Championship for two years.

The off-season is never fully relaxing since he is training nonstop in the gym to maintain his physical condition. In return, every time he jumps on to the field, he is 100% and distinguishes himself from the other competitors.    

The Gee-Gee’s masculine soccer team was at their first season in 2016. They played and are still playing in a league with teams from Quebec, including the University of Quebec in the Outaouais (UQO) and Bishop University. They had quite the success last year, winning the championships and remaining undefeated all through the season. ‘’The team we have is unreal and we have a bunch of guys with great playing experience,” says the Aylmer resident.    

Injury-wise, Joey always had lots of luck in the past. He once had tendonitis in his knee, which was a setback.  He thought about retiring then because he didn’t have any motivation to go back to play. He certainly doesn’t regret his decision to keep playing.  He is unquestionably pleased that it is fixed now. 

Joey is also part of a semi-professional team in Saint-Hubert called the Spatial. That team is part of the premier soccer league of Quebec (PLSQ). The coach of the Spatial, François Bourgeois, is well-known in the soccer community. He has taught and played in France. The semi-pro league in Saint-Hubert runs from February to November.

His day-to-day schedule is pretty packed, which doesn’t give him much time for a social life. Right now, Joey is doing his post-graduate degree in physical education at the University of Ottawa. He did his Bachelor of Arts undergraduate degree in human kinetics at the same university. 

Joey is keeping quite busy five days a week. Waking up early every morning, he usually trains from 6 to 8:30 am. He then spends time in the classrooms and teaches for his school placement. After all of that, he drives to Montreal for a practice before coming back to the region the same evening. 

According to the sports fanatic, the future of soccer in Canada looks better and better. There are improvements that can be made in the soccer world, one of them being the turf surface where a large quantity of players injure themselves. The geography and the fact that our cities are spread so far apart is a challenge that other countries, such as in Europe, don’t have.    

He wants to continue playing semi-professional soccer for a couple of years and become a phys ed teacher. 

Joey has found a passion that will follow him for the rest of his life. In his way, he is leaving his mark in this world. Nothing is stopping Joey from doing what he loves – and he certainly has a bright future ahead once he finishes his soccer career.