Men's Soccer
Examine his soccer resume and you might think Lower Sackville, N.S. native Ian Greedy was born kicking a soccer ball. And the truth isn’t far off.
“I started playing soccer at a very young age, about four or five years old,” said Greedy. “Both of my parents are from England and soccer is a big part of my family. I would say as a kid I always had a soccer ball at my feet kicking it around my house and in the backyard with my friends or on my own.”
The fourth-year Capers forward has come a long way from humble beginnings playing in a co-ed Timbits soccer league at age four or five. “I trained with the National Training Centre Atlantic for about four years and I played on the provincial team since U12 until the Canada Games in PEI in the summer of 2009,” he said.
It was shortly after the 2009 Canada Games that Greedy decided to play for the Cape Breton Capers. “I made the decision to go to CBU because I knew that the team had a great group of players,” said Greedy. “Watching them play in the AUS playoffs that year made me very excited to join the team and play with these players from all over the world.”
CBU men’s soccer head coach Robbie Chiasson was happy to have him. “Ian is very coachable and quickly digests information given to him,” said Chiasson. “He is able to adapt to different situations quickly. He always plays the game with intensity, but he is a fair player who has respect for opponents.”
Greedy was an impact player for the Capers right away, leading the conference in goals in his first season with the team with 11, collecting AUS rookie of the year honours and being named to the AUS first team all-star squad in 2010.
He was named an AUS first team all-star again in 2011 and added CIS second team all-Canadian honours to his resume that same year.
This past season, Greedy led the conference in goals with nine and in shots with 45. He was named to the AUS first team all-star squad for the third time and this year, took home the conference most valuable player award.
He also became Cape Breton’s all-time leading scorer this season with 34 career goals.
Greedy is perhaps best known for performing well under pressure. “Ian is an intense competitor that has the unique ability to elevate his game when the level of competition increases,” said coach Chiasson. “He has more goals per game in playoffs than in regular season. He can recognize the importance of a situation and usually responds with a game-changing play or goal on the field.”
“It wasn’t always my best quality,” admitted Greedy. “But as I gained more and more experience, this attribute of my game has improved a lot. Pressure does help me and motivate me during important games because I know what I am capable of and I know that I can make a big difference on the outcome of any game.”
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Getting to know Ian Greedy…
Where are you from?
“I grew up in Lower Sackville, N.S.; my parents are both from Bristol, England, which is where most of my family still lives.”
What has been your most memorable moment playing for CBU?
“It would have to be last year when we won the AUS [championship], made it to the final of CIS and came home with a national silver medal. It was such an amazing feeling because we barely got into the playoffs. We had to win our last four or five game to make it and once we were there, we played the best soccer as a team and the momentum took us all the way to the CIS final.”
Coach Chiasson on a standout memory of Ian:
“At some point in the past, Ian had told me of all the accomplishments he had achieved, he had never won a medal. Two years ago in Victoria, B.C., with just minutes remaining in the game, Ian scored a beautiful goal against Alberta to earn the first ever national medal for CBU men’s soccer and himself.”
Follow Ian on Twitter @being_greedy