Kyle Thomson Excelling at Loyola and Abroad

Loyola Men’s Soccer at DePaul

“He lives and breathes and eats soccer,” Jones said of the Missouri Valley Conference’s reigning men’s soccer freshman of the year. “He’s all about [it].”

That has been evident this summer, as the Park Ridge native is currently training with Vaasan Palloseura — which plays in the premier division of Finnish soccer — in Vaasa, Finland.

He said he might fly to Wales later this month to train with Swansea City’s U-23 team. Swansea City plays in the English Premier League. He also plans to travel to Sweden and Norway and work with a Wheaton organization called Bridges FC, which is a group of players Thomson said are ex-professionals and college graduates that are looking to continue their careers professionally. Sockers FC Chicago is a partner club of Bridges FC.

Thomson spent much of last summer in Scandinavia, traveling throughout the region with Bridges FC. He also trained with Swedish team Degerfors IF.

Those experiences helped Thomson during his freshman campaign, he said. Not only did he adjust well to the speed of Division I soccer, his fitness was excellent and Jones said he seemed to get better as the season went on — which isn’t too common for freshmen, according to the coach.

To read the full article, click here.