At 13 years old, Lucas Fraga can say with confidence that he has been playing football all his life.
His father, Fabio Carlos Fraga, who sadly passed away in 2021 after battling brain cancer, was a professional football player who played in the position of goalkeeper for teams in Portugal. The position his son Lucas now plays.
Lucas’ mother, Alicia-Jane Cappello, said his father used to sit him in doorways and “peg balls at him because his dad was a goalkeeper as well”.
A decade later, Lucas plays for a number of teams in south-east Queensland, including as an academy one goalkeeper for Logan Lighting, in his high school’s team and in teams formed by Queensland Football’s Talent Support Program (TSP).
He trains seven days a week on top of his high school schedule.
Recently, Lucas caught the eye of Queensland Football scouts.
These scouts are sent to local football games around the state looking for talented players to recruit for programs like the TSP.
“There are scouts for certain positions at each match, looking at individual players, and then you just get selected from there,” Lucas said.
His big break arrived last month at the Global Football Network showcase held on 10 and 11 April in Brisbane.
At the showcase, players participated in four hours of pro-academy training and matches for the chance to be selected to travel to Manchester, England, to play against other pro-academy teams.
The showcase offered mentorship from coaches and scouts and players received individual assessments and feedback on their football skills.
Lucas said the quality of the showcase, including the players and coaches, was of a high standard.
“The quality was good, and the coaches were really good,” he said.
“It helped me improve.”
Ms Cappello, received an email with the good news, Lucas had been chosen to represent Logan in with Global Football in Manchester.
“For Global Football in Manchester, there’ll be eight games across the 14-day camp,” Ms Cappello said.
When Lucas realised he’d been selected, he was “really excited”. This prestigious opportunity could lead to a direct trial with a professional club in the United Kingdom.
He’s travelled overseas before, to watch and support his father in Brazil. But the European continent will be a brand new adventure.
As a pupil in his high school’s excellence program, Lucas was also selected to travel to Barcelona, Spain, to compete in eight football matches over a 10-day camp in December this year.
Between now and take off in September, Lucas said he was prioritising his health and “staying on track with football”.
Ms Cappello has set up a GoFundMe Page to assist the family in funding the travel costs.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/goalie-dreams-help-lucas-go-to-manchester-barcelona
