By Sean Delaney
Jayden Ruiz is a Grade 11 student at Emery Collegiate Institute. Kynu Samuels is one year his senior.
And now, due to a shared love of athletics, and a shared drive to succeed, they are award-winning members of the community, and ready to turn some heads internationally.
Samuels was awarded the Senior Athlete of the Year by his school, and Ruiz won MVP honours in soccer.
“I’m incredibly proud of Kynu and Jayden for their remarkable achievements. When they wear the Canadian jersey, they represent not only our country but also Emery Collegiate Institute and our entire community. Your dedication and hard work are truly inspiring, and I eagerly look forward to seeing you reach even greater heights in the future,” said TDSB Ward 3 Trustee Matias de Dovitiis.
Ruiz played varsity soccer, indoor soccer, and baseball in school. Samuels played varsity soccer, basketball, co-ed volleyball, and track and field.
The pair are also talented futsal players, and have travelled to Barcelona, Mexico and Paraguay for international tournaments. In Paraguay this May they competed in the Futsal World Cup.
And they both better begin getting used to attention, because their performance with the Canadian national team garnered them a bit of the old star treatment.
“Paraguay was a really great experience,” Samuels said. “Being on the court and hearing your name being chanted, that felt really good. And after the game people asking for pictures and autographs, that was probably the best.”
Ruiz felt the same. Each a humble high schooler from the Emery community, being approached like professional athletes wasn’t just “cool,” but a moment that inspired them to achieve more.
“Going and interacting with kids after the games, having them ask for autographs and pictures,” Ruiz said. “After the game we would be crowded by kids asking for jerseys and autographs. And both of us gave our jerseys to kids.”
With their achievements have come pressures. Both focus on their studies as well as athletics. It’s a pressure that has showed them they need to continue to work hard, but also one that has been aided by many in their community. And both were grateful for that.
When they returned from Paraguay, Samuels fell behind in school. With the help of coaches and teachers he said, he focused on his schoolwork, caught up, and stay disciplined and active at his sports.
“A great lesson [from athletics] is being positive,” Samuels said. “Always being positive no matter what. And try to stay disciplined with what you want to achieve.”
“Something I learned, which helped me more in school, and transferred onto the court, is keeping your composure,” Ruiz said. “We’ve taken bigger roles in our school and can be looked at as role models.”
“So, we must stay disciplined and keep our composure and show we can.”
Samuels gave a shout out to Ms. Palermo, the head of everything he said, as well as Mr. Maydo.
“He’s coached me in basketball and track and has been like a whole new father to me. He gives me wise words and advice. But my role model’s my mom. She’s always been there.”
Ruiz thanked Mr. Pollard, who coached him in volleyball, and made him a team captain. As well as Malcolm Brown, who was his soccer coach, indoor and outdoor.
He credited both with helping the freshman and junior overcome the fear in playing a high school sport for the first time.
Both athletes are now looking to bigger things in the future. Each said they learned from playing internationally that there was someone else out there working just as hard as they were, and ready to take their position, should they slack off.
“So, we must continue to work even harder,” Samuels said.
For this pair, that seems an easy goal to achieve.