After winning the ball back in the midfield, Cavalry FC looked to quickly break forward in attack. The ball zipped across the Starlight Stadium turf, from the boot of Bradley Kamdem, to Sergio Camargo, back to Kamdem, and into the path of Eryk Kobza in a matter of seconds. Kobza took a quick touch of the ball and then poked it forward to teammate Goteh Ntignee.

That is when the attacking movement looked like it had gone all wrong. Cutting to the middle of the park, Ntignee tried to force a pass through the midfield that Pacific’s Cédric Toussaint easily blocked. But the power of the pass took it off Toussaint’s shin pads and into the Pacific box, and the path of striker Myer Bevan.

Ntignee’s mispass meant that by this point Bevan was well offside, however, and couldn’t make a play on the ball. But Kobza, who was onside, had cleverly continued his run and reacted quickest. Rushing into the box, he waited until the last moment to calmly lift the ball over the onrushing Pacific goalkeeper Kieran Baskett and into the net. Kobza peeled off in celebration, before stopping and raising his finger to his lips in a cheeky shush to the booing Pacific supporters as an exuberant Bevan leapt on his back.

It was July 8, and Kobza had just scored his first Canadian Premier League goal — the opener in what ended up being a 2-1 victory for Cavalry. After being taken with the third-last pick (14th overall) in the 2023 CPL-U SPORTS Draft, Kobza became a surprise core piece of Cavalry’s CPL Shield-winning side, as only Daan Klomp and Marco Carducci played more minutes than his 2,068 this past year. In doing so, he undoubtedly became the biggest success story to come out of last year’s draft.

“I’m going to be honest, from when I got drafted I didn’t think it was going to go this well,” Kobza told CanPL.ca. 

The 22-year-old from North Vancouver, who was 21 at the time he was drafted, entered Cavalry camp knowing there were no guarantees and he would have to fight for a spot on one of the league’s most successful teams. Kobza said from the moment he got there, however, Tommy Wheeldon Jr. and his coaching staff gave him a lot of confidence that he could make it at this level.

He made a few substitute appearances through the first five matches of the season, before earning his first start on May 21, 2023. That resulted in Cavalry’s first win of 2023, 2-0 against Atlético Ottawa at ATCO Field. He would be in the starting lineup for the rest of the season, and the playoffs.

Only one CPL-U SPORTS pick has ever appeared in more CPL regular season matches in their draft year: Cavalry FC’s Victor Loturi. The 22-year-old Loturi has since moved to Scotland, where he recently made his 50th appearance for Premiership side Ross County.

It is no coincidence that both Kobza and Loturi both played for Cavalry. The club have shown a particular ability to not only draft but develop, and give opportunity to, top talent out of U SPORTS. On top of Kobza, their past picks include Gabriel Bitar, Joel Waterman and Loturi.

“We are always a fan of the U SPORTS Draft because you get players that are versatile because they have to be; you get players that are durable because they play back-to-back games,” said Wheeldon Jr. earlier this year. “But you also get intelligent human beings, that know what it’s like to be educated, so when you teach them something they ask questions, they note it and they are willing to try it.”

Kobza has had an interesting road to the Canadian Premier League. He started out with the Vancouver Whitecaps academy program, but when he didn’t see a path to the first team he decided to commit to the University of Calgary after significant interest from Dinos head coach Brendan O’Connell. Kobza’s time with the Dinos was interrupted by some short stints playing professionally in Poland as well in 2020-21. With Calgary, Kobza helped the Dinos end a 40-year drought by reaching the national championship, and by the end of his time there he was wearing the captain’s armband.

“My parents always wanted me to have a backup plan if football doesn’t work, so again that was also something important to me, having a backup plan. Now I’ve finished university, I have a bachelor’s degree under my name and still being able to play pro now at a high level in my first season, started a lot of games,” said Kobza. “It worked out for me.” 

While he was getting an education in the classroom, he was also learning on the pitch under O’Connell. The coach, who made 451 appearances in the English Football League as a midfielder, largely between Burnley, Barnsley and Charlton Athletic, saw Kobza’s size, ball-playing ability and defensive IQ and felt as though he would be a good fit as a central defender. Previous to that point Kobza had been deployed as a number six.

That experience paid off in a big way for Kobza this year, as he initially broke into the Cavalry team as a holding midfielder, spent a little bit of time at fullback, but ultimately played the vast majority of his matches as a central defender.

“Versatility, I think, is key, especially as a young player; you may not always play or get the chance to play where you want to play, but being able to show up day in and day out wherever the gaffer puts you is important, and that’s something that all young players should definitely focus on or try to develop in their game,” said Kobza.

The now well-established path from collegiate to pro in Canada is bringing with it unprecedented opportunities for players like Kobza. He says that is critical considering the number of different development timelines that players undergo that might not always be best suited to traditional academy to first team progressions.

“I was kind of a late bloomer in terms of a physical body and all that kind of stuff so maybe it was a bit of a disadvantage back then, but I think it’s prepared me better for now,” said Kobza. “I had to adapt when I was younger to maybe be more technical or develop other parts of my game before my body filled out. All these ups and downs helped me get to where I am now” 

With this year’s draft set for Thursday, December 14 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, there will be an opportunity for another group of players to attempt to follow in Kobza’s footsteps and earn a pro contract.

“There’s countless players in this country that have the youth development to kind of make that step and all they really need is a chance,” said Kobza. “In my case, that is what I was waiting for, an opportunity, somebody to take a chance on me and I’m glad it worked out.” 

Kobza is now already working towards his next challenge. Cavalry FC’s regular season title qualified them for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. That means that come February, Kobza will have the opportunity to test himself against some of the best clubs and players on the continent.

“It shows that you can really go from U SPORTS playing locally, to playing professionally in Canada, and now we get the chance to test ourselves internationally in North America, so it’s super exciting,” said Kobza.

The ambition doesn’t stop there for Kobza, however, knowing how many of the aforementioned Cavalry alumni have been able to use the Canadian Premier League as a stepping stone to higher levels.

“Perform well, you never know who’s watching. Like we’ve seen with Vic [Loturi], Joel Waterman, even Zats [Dominick Zator] who played for Cavs for a period of time now playing in Poland, it kind of just shows it is possible. Goteh just made the move recently,” he said.