From Spain to Cape Breton - Yohann Hebert's journey to join the CAPER Family

By IAIN KING

YOHANN HEBERT has settled superbly into a whirlwind first season with the CBU CAPERS. Scoring a derby winner against StFX always helps! The highlight moment of the technically gifted midfielder's debut campaign came in the crucial 1-0 home triumph over his side's biggest rivals earlier this month. Those priceless three points have helped put Head Coach Deano Morley's side in pole position for the closing double-header of the regular season as they go in knowing victories at Acadia then Mount Allison this weekend will guarantee the number 1 slot for play-offs.

For 19-year-old Quebecer Yohann, from the city of Gatineau, that 25-yarder against X in front of a raucous home crowd was a special moment. "I saved my first goal for the winner against StFX, I've come to learn already that is a game that means so much," he smiles. "I sensed the rivalry right away and maybe I got lucky with the shot, it was a great moment to see it fly in. The aim for us now is to win AUS and after that I want to experience Nationals, play against a team from Quebec and beat them!"

Engineering student Yohann has had a ball at his feet since the age of five but at first the slopes of Gatineau also lured him. He would mix soccer with skiing until the age of 11 when his classy displays playing in the jersey of his youth club AS Gatineau near Ottawa brought him to a sporting crossroads. He chose soccer. That decision has proven to the right one as the gifted playmaker graduated to top Montreal franchise AS Blainville.

Like many ambitious rising Canadian talents Yohann's dreams centred on the game's hub in Europe. That meant this summer, while he pondered an academic and soccer future here on the East coast of Canada, he was also chasing the chance of a contract in the heat of Spain. "I was on trial with CD Leganes who are in the Segunda Division, the tier beneath La Liga," he reveals. "They had just been relegated from the top flight, my time there didn't go as well as I wanted it to but it was an amazing experience. The professionalism of the coaches was top level and while I feared the big difference would be in technique it was more in physicality."

When you watch Hebert stride onto Ness Timmons Field, you fear at first that he might be swallowed up in a Conference filled with powerful athletes. Yet the diminutive frame is deceptive, his skill in tight spaces is his superpower, his smaller frame packed with muscle as bigger players bounce off him and he retains possession. "In Spain I found the players I was up and against were big, strong units as their recruitment at Leganes is focused on foreign players from Africa and other areas," he reflects. "The two weeks I spent there were tough in some ways as I struggled in Spanish even though I speak French and Italian. Trying to overcome those barriers was a growth lesson, I learned to take the education from a setback, to look to the future and stay positive."

That Spanish adventure might not have worked out but Hebert knew that Coach Morley was waiting in the wings with an invite to Canada's most beautiful island. When that interest solidified Yohann didn't have any second thoughts, he had done his homework. "I was interested in the school both academically and in a soccer sense. I looked at the project and I couldn't find a reason not to say Yes."

Coach Morley had originally been looking at Yohann as a 2026 recruit but once CAPERS mainstay Jason Hartill opted to remain in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) with Atletico Ottawa Project Hebert was accelerated. "I didn't hesitate in picking up the phone," confesses Deano. "I attended the OPSM showcase in Ottawa last year and while there was over 100 players on show and some great athletes, I only handed out two brochures – one to Yohann. I fell in love with his football ability instantly. As soon as the game ended I approached him and his family and told him how special I thought he was and that out of everyone here I knew he could play in our environment, at our level and he could go on to play professionally."

Yohann could elect to view Spain as a setback, he doesn't. For him it's a bounce back opportunity. It's one he has grasped in a flowing CAPERS four-man midfield as he shines alongside Max Piepgrass, skipper Joe Mac and English Academy product Jamie Nicholson. "You study aspects like both Max Piepgrass and Jason Hartill being drafted to the Canadian Premier League (CPL) from here and that's a big attraction," stresses Yohann. "Then you watch the 2023 Nationals Final video and it pulls you in too because you see the history the program has Max's journey to Cavalry showed me the pathway and I had been in the Atletico Ottawa development program when I was younger. It is in your mind that you are moving to a place with a record of getting players to the next step."

Piepgrass' return to the program from a summer of development starring with Cavalry in the CPL has been pivotal to the eight-game unbeaten run that has taken the CAPERS to the brink of top seeding. Hebert has found a soccer soulmate in the National title winning midfield general and he is relishing the chance to play alongside a player who will surely be a major contender for the AUS Most Valuable Player this time around.

"The first session when Max arrived back he started to push the training standards higher. I told myself I have to adapt to that and get better, to be on my A Game ALL the time," admits Yohann. "After two or three practices I started to love that demanding environment. It has been great for me to play with the likes of Max, Joe and Jamie. They are so technically gifted and it's rare to have that sort of mix, it's just a lot of fun."

Coach Morley admires the dedication he sees in new recruit Hebert both on and OFF the field. Noting that the talented teenager has already became a CAPERS fans favourite Deano is hugely impressed by what he describes as an "infectious personality".

"Yohann is taking engineering which demands such a high level of time management, discipline and consistency, all traits he also brings to every coaching session. I stand on the sideline watching him play and I say: "Wow. I love watching this lad play, his balance, quickness, toughness, vision and desire all excite me – he is one of the best attacking midfielders I have seen in the league and he is only first year. Watching him, Joe, Max and Jamie play together is providing some entertaining football. I can't wait to see what he achieves and I will be shocked if CPL clubs are not monitoring him."

"I expect several will be calling me soon, I would be if I were in their shoes."