Forty years ago, at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games, Eli Sukunda represented Canada in fencing for the first time at this prestigious international tournament. The fencer went back to represent his country at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, in Los Angeles and Seoul.
Since then, Sukunda has shared his passion for sports with the young ones, teaching fencing at Carleton University. But he also conveyed his passion for sports and excellence to his children, Adrienne and Zachary. While Adrienne also turned to fencing, young Zachary Sukunda went with soccer.
Starting at a young age, Zachary first started to play soccer with… his dog.
“I have to blame my parents for buying a dog,” he says. “I started kicking the ball with the dog. When they saw that I liked it, they signed me up in a soccer team.”
Zachary started to play with Brockville, near his home, before moving on to Ottawa Soccer United and then to Ottawa Fury. Despite the distance, his parents always supported him. At 15, Sukunda had the chance to join the AJ Auxerre academy, currently in Ligue 2 in France.
Being far from his family was a challenge, but the Ottawa native stayed in touch with his parents, whether by Skype or by other means. He returned to Canada at 17 before joining the Montreal Impact Academy.
“My dad has watched every game since I was a kid. He taught me everything. When I was in France for a year, he was calling me after the games and asking me what I did right and what I did wrong. He was guiding me.”
Zachary doesn’t hide the fact that his dad is probably the biggest inspiration that pushed him to go so far and keep putting in efforts to reach his goals.
“He’s the most humble person I know, and he doesn’t talk much about his story, but he’s my hero. It’s only after a few years that he told me about his journey. He told me what it took for him to reach the highest level. It’s really inspiring to see how he worked to reach that level.”
Since then, Zachary Sukunda has worked his way up at the Academy and is now playing with FC Montreal, the club’s USL team.
“It’s still tough because I don’t see my parents a lot. I miss them, but I try to talk to them as much as possible. My dad remains the person that has had the biggest influence on me. He even learned to use YouTube to watch us play. My parents are really happy that I am with the USL team, but they keep supporting me to reach the first team.”
In 2015, Sukunda played his first USL season with FC Montreal. After difficult moments in the start of the season, he became one of the pillars of the team, covering the left side of the defence when his natural position is at right back. The 20-year-old ended the season with the most minutes played with the Bleu-blanc-noir.
