Edmonton soccer coach gives youth the chance to live the dream he never could

Andrea Huncar · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 09, 2025 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

On a gleaming indoor pitch, Edmonton coach Ahmad Majed watches Amelia Burata unleash a thunderous kick, driving the ball into the net.  

Burata, 11, has trained with the founder of Soccer Elite Academy for half her life but it’s their first practice together on Elite’s new field.

“It’s beautiful – even when it's snowing outside, I can come here, train and up my skills and do it without freezing,” Burata told CBC News.

“Ahmad is giving the opportunity to kids like me and other kids to step on to this field, join this academy, and then work as hard as they can to become a great soccer player.”

Amelia Burata, 11, has trained with Soccer Elite Academy since its launch six years ago. (Craig Ryan/CBC)

In October, Elite celebrated the launch of their new home — the Athletes Hanger —  just across from the NAIT campus where Majed once played.

The spacious two-level former curling rink now houses both a training and recovery room, and areas for physiotherapy and a cafe.

Lizoux Gerriel Ouanda, 11, says Soccer Elite Academy is not only a soccer club, but also a family. (Craig Ryan/CBC)

Lizoux Gerriel Ouanda, 11, said his fitness knowledge, dribbling and shooting have significantly improved since joining Elite when it kicked off six years ago, along with his older brother, who is now a coach.

“Overall, they’ve just been helping me a lot. And I'm really thankful,” Ouanda said. "Everyone here is nice. They're welcoming. They're also funny and they treat me really well."

In 1993, a 14-year-old Majed played for Lebanon’s national team until war drove his family from Lebanon to Fort McMurray.

“I was born and raised with a ball at my feet and there's no ball but all these fields, beautiful fields, no ball,” Majed told CBC News.

“I had no one to turn to at that age. I really didn't know anything. I really didn't know anybody. I couldn't speak the language. I love to play football, but there's no football.”

Ahmad Majed, right, with his brother four years after arriving in Fort McMurray. (Submitted by Ahmad Majed)

In an international friendly the following summer, a record-setting crowd at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium witnessed Canada tie Brazil. Brazil won the World Cup a few weeks later in Pasadena, Calif.

“That completely changed how soccer lives in Canada,” JR Figueiredo, Alberta Soccer president, said in a recent interview.

“Here in Edmonton, for example, all the soccer centres were built after that.”

Since then, the number of players in Alberta has grown from less than 10,000 to more than 100,000, he said.

On the eve of FIFA's return to North America, Figuiredo expects another growth spurt.

He hopes to see the adoption of a 25-year strategy that taps into the potential of Alberta’s young, increasingly diverse demographic, while restoring soccer ’s accessibility.

"We're really overpricing the sport right now and it's limiting access for talent. Players like Alphonso Davies today — would he have had the opportunity to become Alphonso Davies if he had to pay $2,000 to play soccer?" 

Elite members play, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances, Majed said. Six years in, they've grown from 18 to more than 1,000 members.

Elite has developed top-tier talent, with players advancing to pro-clubs including FC Montreal, Vancouver Rise, Whitecaps, York FC, and Europe. One Elite girl on Real Madrid's radar is currently travelling back and forth to train with Club Deportivo Leganés.

“So here I am today, standing right here and in my building, giving the opportunities to kids that I never had,” Majed said.

“This is what it's all about. Giving them a home, first of all, and giving them an opportunity.”

Soccer Elite Academy has grown from 18 members to more than a thousand since it was founded six years ago. (Soccer Elite Academy)