Whitby's Lord of the pitch
Thu Mar 27, 2008

WHITBY -- Whitby native Taylor Lord is one step closer to realizing his goal.

Lord, who now lives in Nice, France, has signed with the French Football club AS Monaco, in the U18 youth program.

After recent trials with club teams Nice FC, AS Cannes and Monaco, the 17-year-old decided the latter was the one for him.

Lord's last Canadian club, prior to moving to France a year and a half ago, was the Newmarket Soccer Club U16 team, under coach Tony Greco where he garnered team MVP honours.

That same season, he also made the OYSL all-star team which took a trip to Toronto for the prestigious Disney Tournament. Prior to that, Lord played for two years in the U.S. in the Super Y League as a member of the Junior Lynx Academy.

Before taking off south of the border, Lord plied his trade locally. First in the Lake Vista Park League in Oshawa and later as a member of the Durham Regional team up until the age of 13.

Much of his learning in Whitby came under the tutelage of coach Zoltan Baranyi, who still remains involved in Lord's development as an advisor.

Though Lord's development from a young age was always evident, it wasn't until the last three years or so that he took aim at securing a career as a professional soccer player.

"It's been a goal of his and now he's got a chance to continue to prove himself," says Ken Lord, Taylor's father.

The younger Lord was unavailable for comment as he won't return home from France until later this spring.