Prince Amanda has been playing football since he was a young kid in Tanzania, but is eager to showcase his skills at the professional level in the city he now calls home.

“I learned about life with the ball at my feet,” explained Amanda. “I have enjoyed playing since the age of three and ever since then, it has been my passion.”

“I’m very excited to play and represent my hometown club.”

Amanda played his youth football with Sherwood Park Phoenix and Xtreme FC, before joining the FC Edmonton Academy in 2015.

“FC Edmonton has always been the place for me to really thrive in my passion for soccer and I can’t wait to show that FC Edmonton are number one in Canada,” the 17-year-old winger said.

“He’s a player that offers a lot of flexibility as he can honestly play anywhere on the pitch,” described FC Edmonton Head Coach and Director of Soccer Operations Jeff Paulus. “Prince brings pace, power and a keen desire to take players on, which is a trait often missing in young Canadian players.”

Amanda may still be finishing up his Grade 12 at Archbishop O’Leary Catholic High School, but when he takes the pitch, his skills speak for themselves. Coach Paulus’ mantra of “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough” certainly applies to Amanda, and he’s enjoying working with the older players in training.

“It’s been a great experience learning from them,” said Amanda. “For me, I like it when they tell me what I did wrong, especially in training.”

“Guys like Bruno (Zebie) will take me off to the side and tell me what I need to do to get better, so I’ll go home and analyze what he said and try to perfect it at the next training session. They see my potential, and want to help cultivate it in order to help FC Edmonton win.”

Amanda has been getting advice from an older player for his whole life, as his brother, Gloire, is also a footballer. The elder Amanda spent time with the FC Edmonton Academy, before joining the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy at the age of 15. Gloire played for Whitecaps 2 of the United Soccer League, and is now going to school at Oregon State, playing NCAA Division One soccer.

“He’s been a great role model, he’s very happy for me,” Amanda smiled. “In fact, the day I signed, he took me out to celebrate.”

“He’s given me lots of advice, like what to do as a professional, because you are a role model now and people are going to start to look at you differently.”

While he may now be looked at as a role model, Amanda adds he’s happy to be joining a club with players around his own age and guys he is familiar with, such as David Doe and Marcus Velado-Tsegaye.

“It’s good to have people you know, especially when you’re playing against older people, you have those guys as moral support.”