Jeevan Badwal is the Whitecaps’ Surrey-born star in the making

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From time to time, Jeevan Badwal’s father Kam, a goalie, will call up his son, a midfielder for the Vancouver Whitecaps, to relay a piece of defensive advice he has picked up while playing in his men’s league games.

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Jeevan, 19, smiles as he tells the story about his soccer-loving father. His dad, after all, is why Jeevan is a professional soccer player. His dad introduced him to the game, a game that the younger Badwal has proven to be very, very adept at.

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“I’ll tell my dad, ‘Thanks, but let’s leave it to the professionals,’” the MLS rookie quips.

Badwal is in the midst of a very solid first MLS season, having appeared in 17 games across all competitions so far this season. A hard-working, hustling midfielder with a deft touch, there is nothing better than what he has experienced so far this season. He has become a handy contributor to a squad that has surprised all, sitting at or near the top of the MLS Western Conference standings all season and also making the CONCACAF Champions Cup final last month.

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Badwal’s coach, Jesper Sorensen, isn’t shy to say he’s impressed by what he has seen out of the teenager.

“He’s young, but he’s setting his foot down in training sessions,” the veteran coach said. “I think that’s important. For a young player, it’s not as much to convince me as it is to convince your teammates.”

And Badwal is doing an excellent job of that.

He has found the perfect coach for his progress, too, he figures.

“He’s taught me I can turn quickly and move forward,” he cited as just one example of how he is adding to his game.

For as long as Badwal can remember, the Vancouver Whitecaps have been an MLS club. The chance to play for the hometown team at the very top of the game in North America has always been there, in a way that hasn’t really been the case before.

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He played all sports when he was growing up, with hockey and basketball his special passions. “My mom, Gurinder, wanted me to play those. She didn’t know soccer that well,” he recalled.

But that early soccer experience stuck. He remembers going to a game when he would have been about seven. He had a broken arm.

“(Erik) Hurtado played, I think,” he said, recalling the hard-working striker whose hair was always on show. “I think they won, too.”

The Whitecaps have a long and illustrious history going back five decades, at times sitting at the top of the game in the country as well as the continent, but a sustained existence over a youngster’s life time hasn’t really been there.

After years of investing in their academy, there still aren’t many players they can point to as having proven to be successful professionals. Badwal is clearly a product of the system, though.

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From Grade 9 to 12, he attended University Hill Secondary, just down the way from the Whitecaps’ training centre at the University of B.C.

“A really bright kid. He would have been class president in another school,” recalled Jeff Hodgson, who heads-up the PE department at UHill and also is the in-school coordinator for the Whitecaps’ academy.

“He’s just an impressive young man,” said Hodgson, a former player for the UBC varsity men’s soccer program. Balwan’s younger brother Manav is also in the academy program and has a similar manner to his brother.

“Super kind. Respectful. Great temperament. It’s a family thing, clearly. They’ve been parented well. You can tell they’re from a really good family.

“And he’s curious by nature, down to be involved in all kinds of things. I won’t be surprised if he’s successful outside of soccer too.”

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That maturity, that sharpness, is evident at home too. He is roommates with teammate Emmanuel Sabbi, who rates him as an exceptional person to live with.

“I wasn’t so mature,” Sabbi said with a laugh. “There’s never any problems (as a roommate). He’s a very clean guy.”

“He’s a quiet guy. A calm guy. Very loving to be around.”

Badwal admits that there are still moments before games on the B.C. Place pitch where he is in awe of where he finds himself. There are jitters now and then.

“But then the game starts and it’s all gone. I just play. The same as it ever was.”

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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