Athlete of the Week - Zachary Kalk
Grade 12 student, Zachary Kalk, is a highly-skilled soccer player who has experienced early success at CDS and with his club team, Vaughan Azzuri. The centre midfielder feels his high soccer IQ and tactical awareness help make him a dynamic player and a leader on the field.
Zachary came to CDS six years ago and quickly fit into the CDS soccer program. As well as being very athletic, Zachary has incredible leadership traits, highlighted by his appointment as captain of a CISAA Championship winning U16 team in Grade 10.
Unfortunately last season, Zachary missed out on playing Senior Boys CDS Soccer because of club commitments and a late season knee injury. He is eager to kick this season off and is confident CDS has assembled a strong team with high quality players. “I think we can finish first [in the regular season] and make a run to win the whole thing.”
He also feels that his current coaches Sandy Townsend and Peter Milonas offer a lot to the team. “They are both really good coaches, Mr. Milonas has a lot of experience and Mr. Townsend is really into our soccer, we usually have a good but not very deep team, but this year we had 20 plus kids coming out. With our great coaching, I know we will have a good season.” Zachary also feels the environment created by the coaches has already seen vast improvements in a few weeks. “We’ve practiced a week and a half and already we have had so much improvement. Technically and tactically, we’ve come a long way. We had a tournament last week and we did really well, we dominated all of our games.”
Zachary also plays in the Ontario Youth Soccer League for the Vaughan Azzurri. Last summer, he and his team earned the incredible opportunity to compete at Nationals in British Columbia, ultimately losing the final in extra time to the hosts Surrey United. “We lost on a shaky goal, it was tough but overall it was an awesome experience.”
Zachary plays in the central midfield for both CDS and Vaughan, and feels he fulfills the same role on both teams. “I see myself as a leader on both. Playing as a centre-mid means you must be intelligent and have smart sense of tactics, I pride myself on that. I can lead the team by telling them shift left, shift right, etc. I try to be a good leader and help everyone as best I can.”
CDS Coach Peter Milonas sees the same qualities in Zach. “[He] is a game changer and we’re lucky to have him. In our short preseason he has proved to be a vocal leader as well as one by example. He’s always looking to be dangerous and has already scored some timely goals. As coaches we rely on his experience at the club level to help our inexperienced players gain confidence in a new complicated system. Zachary is an integral part of the engine that drives the team forward.”
He models his game after Jack Wilshire and Aaron Ramsey, two mid-fielders who play for the London, England based club Arsenal.
In addition to his commitment to soccer, Zachary also plays rugby and hockey for CDS.
Next year Zachary hopes to have an opportunity to play Division 1 soccer for a university in the U.S., similar to his hockey playing brother, Corey Kalk ’12, who plays for Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
Land Acknowledgment
The Country Day School wishes to recognize and acknowledge the land on which the school operates. Our nearest Indigenous Nations are now the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Chippewas of Georgina Island. The Dish with One Spoon Wampum covenant is often cited as an example of the shared responsibility for caring for these lands among the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples who would call these their traditional territories. CDS respects the relationship with these lands and recognizes that our connection to this land can be strengthened by our continued relationship with all First Nations, by acknowledging our shared responsibility to respect and care for the land and waters for future generations.
School Information
Junior, Middle and Senior Schools
13415 Dufferin Street, King, Ontario L7B 1K5
(905) 833-1220
communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca
Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.
13415 Dufferin Street, King, Ontario L7B 1K5
(905) 833-1220
communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca
Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.
