LAC LA BICHE - Ben Kenny, a goalkeeper from Belfast, Northern Ireland, will be in net for the Portage College Voyageurs men’s soccer team during the squad’s upcoming season.
On Aug. 4, following a very long 36-hour plane ride that involved delays and missing a connecting flight in Toronto, the 20-year-old student-athlete arrived in the Lakeland region.
So far, living in Lac La Biche has been a great experience for the Irish goalkeeper, who is enrolled in the business administration program at Portage College and hopes to earn a four-year degree while he’s in Canada.
While Kenny has yet to experience a northern Alberta winter, he says the summers in this part of the world are considerably warmer than in Northern Ireland. Training with the team daily, he continued, has been amazing. He has also started to get to know his teammates, many of whom come from a diverse array of countries - as well as other parts of Canada.
“The lads are a bunch of great lads… I’m loving every single minute of it,” he told Lakeland This Week.
Kenny had been studying and working in a retail job during the summer months, not sure what he wanted to do with in life when he started working with an agency that specializes in getting international students to play sports in North America. It wasn’t long after this that he decided playing soccer in Canada was an opportunity he wanted to pursue.
“Nine months down the line, I got an email from the coach, Macky, saying that he’s interested in bringing me to Portage College and here I am here now, a year later,” Kenny stated.
Kenny has always enjoyed the beautiful game. He was 10 years old when he put on a pair of cleats and took to the pitch. As he explains, his cousin was playing on a local team and asked if he would like to play as well.
Since then, he has played for several different clubs in Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as second division-level soccer in the reserve system.
As far as his future plans are concerned, Kenny would like to play soccer at a professional level. However, over the next four years, his goal is to progress in his game and prove himself on the field.
“It’s only my first year, so I’ve got a long time ahead of me. I’ve just got to be patient and wait for the right moment and hopefully I can get somewhere, and you know make a name for myself,” he said.
In addition to being a committed soccer player, Kenny is also a devoted fan of the sport. When he isn’t playing himself, he roots for Linfield F.C., a Belfast-based team that plays in the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL). He also follows the Glasgow Rangers and Arsenal F.C. in the English Premiere League (EPL).
As for any differences he has noticed between soccer in Northern Ireland and the game that is played in Canada, Kenny says that soccer back home is a lot more aggressive, with players sometimes not caring about their actions on the field, which causes injuries. However, on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, players are more considerate, team-oriented, and back each other.
“The standard that I’m playing out here at Portage College is far, far better than what I’ve played at back home,” he said.
When asked what he likes most about playing soccer, Kenny says in addition to playing with people from all around the world, he also enjoys being on the pitch for 90 minutes where he must focus his attention entirely on playing for that whole time.
“I love everything about it… I love playing… I love being around a team… I love being in a team… I love playing… I love being competitive… I love winning,” he said.
The 2024-25 season for the Portage College men’s and women’s soccer squads gets underway on Sept. 7 with an away game against the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder.
The Voyageurs are back in Lac La Biche the following day for their home opener against the visiting NAIT Ooks. The women play at noon while the men are on the field at 2 p.m.
