Evans Chuba has been thinking about the NFL since he was 10 years old. That’s all there is. He barely flinches at the idea that the goal is still far away. Far… and expensive.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
If you are told the story of Evans Chuba, it is because it is that of hundreds of young Quebecers who also dream of the highest peaks in their sport. A dream that is sometimes calculated in thousands of dollars.
Because you see, it’s not just the talent and the will that come into play when a youngster reaches the elite level. There is also money.
For Chuba, her dream comes with a price: $26,000.
On Thursday, the young 17-year-old quarterback will nevertheless fly to Florida, where he will join a high school. Meanwhile, in Quebec, his mother Julie Bruyère will do whatever she can to fund her son’s future. With the aim of allowing him to live and eat for 24 months away from home.
Like many parents of young athletes, Mr.me Bruyère struggles with the high costs that come with elite sport. As a single mother of two teenagers, who works in a community organization, the money obviously does not fall from the sky. On February 23, she therefore decided to launch a fundraiser on the Go Fund Me website.
“It saddens me to think that my finances would prevent Evans from achieving his personal goals, especially considering the effort he has put in and the success he has had thus far,” she wrote. on the overview page.
Evans’ Passion
So we went to meet them. To see how the dream is progressing. When Evans Chuba is asked to meet him on a Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m., he replies, “I have a practice around noon downtown. So can we do this earlier, like 9:00? »
Bargain. The athlete welcomes us with his mother and his brother in their apartment in Pierrefonds, in the northwest of the island of Montreal. The quarterback lends himself to the game of taking pictures with pleasure. He even exchanges a few passes with the author of these lines.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE
Evans Chuba
We quickly understand that Chuba is a passionate as it is few: he tells us one by one each stage of his young career, starting with the first time he touched a ball, at the age of 5 .
“My mother wanted to find me a place to channel my energy,” he explains.
Football quickly became more than a hobby for little Evans. Julie Bruyère vividly remembers a discussion between her mother and her son that took place over dinner seven years ago.
“She asked him what he liked to do in his spare time and he said, ‘[jouer au] soccer.” She said to him, “Do you think you’ll play for the Canadian Football League?” He said, “No, the National Football League.” »
“Already at the age of 10, that’s where he was going,” she adds.
A young entrepreneur
Four years later, at age 14, Evans Chuba wanted to perfect his game, so he set his sights on attending The Manning Passing Academy football camp in Louisiana. The cost: $1500.
” I had [seulement] $200, he recalls. So I thought to myself: how can I make money? I called some friends and came to the conclusion that cutting some grass would be a good idea. The next day, I went to pass flyers around my neighborhood for two or three hours. I had calls. At first I was making about $80 a week. For me it was wow. »
The camp was eventually canceled due to the pandemic, but Evans found a new passion. The following summer, he hired five of his acquaintances who lived in different neighborhoods of Montreal in order to expand his clientele. He was the one who bought the mowers, who provided all the equipment.
We feel Julie Bruyère emotional listening attentively to her son telling us about his initiative.
That he has to work so hard, yes, it makes me proud, but it breaks my heart
Julie Bruyère, mother of Evans Chuba
At his side, his son adds: “Even if my mother could pay him… If I could choose between my mother who pays or me who works for, I will choose to work for. If my mother pays, I earn nothing. There, now, I know entrepreneurship. I know how to manage a business, manage bad and good customers, employees…”
Florida is calling
A few months ago, Evans Chuba compiled a list of five American schools – high schools – in which he would like to continue his development.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE
Evans Chuba
” The low [aux États-Unis], it’s football and baseball culture, he explains. Here is hockey. I find that there is not the same mentality here. But that’s not to say there isn’t the talent. A lot of people from Canada are doing amazing stuff in the United States. We have the talent, but not the system to push us to the next level. We don’t have visibility. »
Players born in Quebec are indeed few in the NFL.
At Dalbé-Viau high school, where he has been studying and playing for three years, Chuba was mentored by his coaches, who showed his portfolio to various American establishments. The Clearwater International Academy in Florida has shown great interest.
“The coach liked me a lot,” he said. He got to know me for three months. We made calls Zoom. A quarterback, it is absolutely necessary that you are certain that it is the right person.
– Is that when you said to yourself that the dream was accessible?
– No, I already believed it, he replies without hesitation. […] Me, my goal is to become the best quarterback to play in the NFL. It’s harder [que la LCF], but it is available. You have to do the things necessary to get there. »
A new step
For her part, her mother is still struggling to realize that her son will be moving 2,500 km from home.
“I always knew he was going to do great things. Since he was very young, all the time, the coaches told me: “Your son is going to go far.” […] He told me all the time that he wanted to go to the United States to go to the NFL. But for me, it was super blurry. And I don’t know how to get there. I always said, “We’ll see.” But he really has a talent, and I hear it a lot from others. »
Departure is scheduled for April 7. Already $9,000 has been raised through Go Fund Me, which will pay for the first eight months. But there are still many missing.
“What if you can’t raise $26,000?
“I’m going to find another job,” replies Julie Bruyère.
The apple rarely falls far from the tree.
