THUNDER BAY -- Axel Sjoberg is the latest proof that the Thunder Bay Chill is a great path to the pros.
But he’s by no means the first former player to earn a living playing the sport.
The Chill have sent a steady stream of players to the professional ranks, including Kosuke Kimura and Shaun Francis, the first to graduates to earn their Major League Soccer caps.
In fact the Chill can boast a number of graduates playing professionally around the world, including Spain, Moldova, Poland and Bulgaria.
Sjoberg is just the latest success story.
The towering defender spent two seasons patrolling the Premier Development League squad’s back end and using his size on corner kicks to add to the Chill’s offensive output.
The Swedish native earlier this year was a first-round pick of Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids and proved impressive at camp, earning a spot on the team and a pair of starts for a team off to a slow 0-3-1 start.
Former coach Tony Colistro said he knew Sjoberg was special the minute he first saw him play.
“Axel was a player that I saw playing at Marquette University in 2011 and I knew he would one day be a dominant player in the MLS,” Colistro said in a release issued early on Monday.
“The Chill were very fortunate to have a player of this caliber in Thunder Bay and I think we will hear a lot more about him in the future.”
General manager John Marrello has similar thoughts about Kosuke Kimura, who spent the 2004 campaign in Thunder Bay and became the first former Chill player to suit up with an MLS team after being drafted by the Colorado Rapids.
Three years later, in 2010, he helped the Rapids capture their second MLS Cup, and in fact scored the goal that earned them a spot in the championship game.
Marrello was on hand for the final and said it proved once and for all the Chill could be a breeding ground for future professionals – and darned good ones too.
“To see him win the championship that night was icing on the cake,” Marrello said. “It really brought what we are doing here with the Chill close to home.”
Kimura spent time with both the Portland Timbers and New York Red Bulls before signing a deal in February with Poland’s Widzew Lodz.
Francis, who played for the Chill in 2009, is currently a starter with the San Jose Earthquakes, his third team in six MLS seasons, a career that has included stops in both Columbus and Chicago.
The MLS is by no means the only route to the pros taken by former Chill players. All-time leading scorer Brandon Swartzendruber, an architect of the PDL team’s 2008 championship, spent several stints in the
USL Pro League, most recently last season with Arizona United, where he collected a pair of goals in 10 appearances.
Meanwhile Thunder Bay’s own Stephen Paterson, the Chill’s longtime goalkeeper who played in more than 100 PDL games, signed with the Missouri Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Others notching time in the pros include several members of the 2013 Chill, including Abraham Villon, who spent last season with the USL’s Oklahoma City Express; defender Lee Nishanian is entering his second season with the LA Galaxy II; Sergio Campano signed to play in Bulgaria’s first division last year, while Sunny Omeregie is playing with Celje Football Club of Slovenia.
“I can’t say enough about the layers that came to Thunder Bay and have played for our team,” Colistro said.
“As far as I am concerned they are first and foremost great people and those who didn’t move ton to professional soccer as players will continue being involved and giving back to the game that is what makes them great.”
