Marko Mandekic in white shorts and shirt with the number 23 on his shirt running along a soccer field next to another player wearing blue. Soccer ball is in the air between the two players.

UTM criminology student awarded Silver T for outstanding athletic performance

Megan Easton

Marko Mandekic joined his first soccer team at age three – a year younger than the required age. His father convinced the coach that his son “had something different,” and Mandekic lived up to that promise.

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The Kitchener, Ont. native, who was a midfielder on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues soccer team until his graduation this spring, received a Silver T award in April alongside 20 other student-athletes. The award goes to Bronze T holders in their graduating year for outstanding athletic performance.

It was just another honour in a career that never slowed down from those early days, when he was so shy around his older teammates that his dad had to follow him around the field. Eventually, Mandekic gained enough confidence to allow his father to move to the sidelines, but he never missed a game.

In his first year with the Blues, Mandekic was named an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East first team all-star and a member of the national U SPORTS all-rookie team. He also helped the Blues to a post-season spot every season. “It meant a lot to me and my family to be recognized for the last three years of my soccer career,” says Mandekic, who earned a degree in criminology at U of T Mississauga.

That recognition would have been for the last four years, of course, if it weren’t for the pandemic. In offering his virtual congratulations to the Silver T award winners, U of T President Meric Gertler acknowledged the loss COVID-19 brought to athletes at the university. “Although you were unable to compete in your respective sports this season, your accomplishments are no less remarkable. Indeed, the University of Toronto Silver T has always recognized more than the results of a single season.”

Mandekic hasn’t practiced or played with his Blues teammates since March 2020. “I’d been hoping to really enjoy my final year on the team,” he says. “I definitely missed the competition, but also just hanging out with my teammates and interacting with my coaches. I’m a very social person.”

He credits the friends he made on the team with helping him through a tough transition in first year, when he was juggling his studies, eight hours of practice and two games per week in season. “I definitely struggled because I didn’t know how to balance everything,” he says. “If I hadn’t had the support of a group of people who were going through the same thing, I don’t think I’d have been able to learn the discipline and sacrifice it took to complete my degree.”

In his second year at U of T, Mandekic had the chance to play professionally when he was selected by Forge FC as part of the Canadian Premier League’s inaugural university draft. In the end, he opted not to join the team, but says it was an experience he never would have had without early encouragement from former U of T head soccer coach Anthony Capotosto.

“I first met Coach Caps at the Toronto FC Academy, where I played in high school. He told me then that if I played really well at the university level there could be big opportunities, and he was right.” Mandekic’s mother had always wanted him to go to university, and with Capotosto’s support he secured a full scholarship to UTM.

Looking back, he says he has no regrets and would urge other young elite soccer players to see university-level sport as a win-win. “For a lot of kids and their parents, the dream is to play professionally. But you never know where your career will take you at the university level, especially now with the CPL drafting undergrads, and you can finish your academics at the same time. No matter what happens, you end up with a good degree and a good job.”

As for Mandekic’s next steps, he recently accepted a position with the OPP Highway Safety Division and is coaching younger players. He has no plans to give up playing himself, but will focus on doing it just for fun now. One thing that won’t change, however, is the devotion of his biggest fan. “No matter where I play, my dad will be watching every game.”