Photo: Mark Avellino
Hume City youngster Kristian Trajceski has won the inaugural PS4 Player Pathway Award, earning a trial with A-League outfit Sydney FC in the process.
The midfielder beat out 23 other competitors – including two fellow NPL Victoria representatives in Pascoe Vale’s Matthew Conversano and Melbourne Knights’ Nick Glavan – to grab top honours, and it caps off a breakthrough 2016 season in which he made 21 league appearances, scoring three goals.
“I’m grateful to get this opportunity,” Trajceski told PS4 Australia after receiving the news.
“It’s been great [at Hume]. From a young age, I’ve been with the first team. It’s helped me experience more physically and helped me develop more mentally, technically and tactically, so I’m happy to be at Hume.”
Trajceski made his league debut in 2015 and featured in last year’s FFA Cup as a late sub in their Semi-Final exit to Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.
The former Whittlesea Ranges junior made a first XI spot his own throughout the 2016 season and again featured for Hume in the cup, appearing in both FFA Cup games as they exited one again to the Victory in the second round.
The year 12 student at St Monica’s College is currently training daily as a part of the school’s football program and was a part of the side that won Melbourne City’s Premier Schools tournament earlier this month.
One graduate of that program – alongside South Melbourne’s Matthew Theodore and Oakleigh Cannons’ Dusan Bosnjak is former Sydney FC winger Robert Stambolziev, with Trajceski in line to potentially usurp his spot on the roster in the coming weeks.
Kristian Trajceski of @FCHumeCity #PS4NPLVIC has won the PS4 Player Pathway Award and a trial with @SydneyFC! pic.twitter.com/ELutYzlIvw
— PlayStationAustralia (@PlayStationAU) September 28, 2016
It marks a meteoric rise for the young midfielder who didn’t once feature within the Victorian state team set-up through any age group and it offers a fantastic opportunity to nurture his game in a professional environment.
He will trial with the Sky Blues for two weeks, after impressing under the watchful eye of current Socceroos assistant manager Ante Milicic at the training camps in Sydney.