Dwayne De Roasario - Aug 24 2021
The Power of Sport: A Conversation with Dwayne De Rosario
Playing sports to some may be just tossing a ball around. But for others, sports are a way of life. It’s their teacher. It’s their friend. When we talk about the power of sport, we’re talking about how it has the potential to not only improve your physical health, but also the progressive impacts it has on your mind and your outlook on life.
UVU Training’s brand ambassador, former professional soccer player Dwayne De Rosario (or DeRo for short!), is a living example of how athletics can change lives...
He knew sports before he knew himself. Essentially grown up on the soccer field, DeRo’s love for the game began at the age of 3. Raised in a low-income housing community riddled with violence and wrong turns, it was sports that became his saving grace.
Dwayne De Rosario during his time with Toronto FC
“Sports had a major influence. For metro housing kids, sports were a crucial outlet for a lot of feelings and emotions,” he says in an interview with UVU Training’s founder, Skylar Thomas. “It was a safe space for me. It allowed me to be me authentically. It allowed me to express myself in a positive and productive manner. It helped shape me to who I am today.”
DeRo was inspired by the greats – Pelé, Maradona, Ronaldo – all whom he believed played with an unmatched flair and a true understanding of the game. Though he chose to pursue a career in soccer, he actively immersed himself in several sports throughout his adolescence. From basketball and track to volleyball and badminton; whatever put him up to a challenge, DeRo did it all.
For all the athletes that take pride in improving their game, DeRo shares a few powerful words of advice:
1.) “Believe in yourself. Everything rests in the mind. All your success and all that you want to achieve is in your head. You just have to apply it and put it to work.”
2.) “Use sports to leverage a certain mindset. Anything you want in life is going to require dedication, sacrifice and commitment. Your level of success is based on those attributes.”
3.) “There are going to be losses off the field like there are on the field, and you’re going to have to work through them. Just like the game, you’ll have to learn, re-evaluate, reassess, and then apply.”
Today, DeRo retired as a four-time MLS Cup champion, a seven-time MLS All-Star, an MLS Most Valuable Player recipient, a four-time Canadian Player of the Year all while having two decades of professional soccer under his belt. Though he has said goodbye to his active playing career, his love for sports hasn’t diminished in the slightest. Applying his on-field experiences to the real world, he has recently published an autobiography entitled “DeRo: My Life” – a book documenting his rags-to-riches life story which is available at all major book outlets.