Long before Ivan Pavela was guarding the net at York Lions Stadium against the Canadian Premier League's top attackers, he was doing so against his cousin in the basement.
It was there that Pavela first fell in love with goalkeeping, diving across the concrete floors of an unfinished basement while his cousin took shots at him from close range. It certainly taught him the bravery required to play the position.
"I just started going in net, and he would shoot on me," Pavela told CanPL.ca. "And from there, I really liked it, and I just stuck with it. After that, I said 'Yeah, I want to be a goalkeeper.'"
Having recently turned 20, the Toronto native has made five appearances for York United this season in the CPL, including starting their past three games.
This past weekend, he kept his second clean sheet of the season against league leaders Atlético Ottawa in a 0-0 draw during the blistering heat at York Lions Stadium, making some outstanding saves in the process and earning a place in the league's Gatorade Team of the Week.
"It's been great so far coming in this season," said Pavela. "I didn't really know where I'd stand in terms of playing and consistent minutes. So it's definitely been great to get some game time and just show what I've been working for my whole life."
After coming up through the ProStars FC system in League1 Ontario, and a brief stint in Hungary, Pavela initially spent time with the Nine Stripes in 2023 on a development contract. Working with Niko Giantsopoulos and Eleias Himaras, it was a transformational moment in his young career. Playing against experienced older players for the first time, he learned the incredible speed at which the professional game is played, and what it would take to reach that level.
"When I look at my whole career, I think in those six months, that's definitely one of the time spans where I improved the most," said Pavela.
Later that year, he departed for Croatia, where he spent time initially with Lokomotiva and Hajduk Split's academy teams, before a brief stint with second division club NK Dugopolje. In Europe, he says, he really learned the importance of having a strong mentality and being able to bounce back quickly from tough moments.
With Hadjuk Split, he even got to spend some time in the first team, where he joined Canadian international Niko Sigur after a pair of injuries to the team's goalkeepers required them to call up Pavela for a month.
"[Niko's] a really nice guy, down to earth; he was always friendly to me," said Pavela, "and made sure I was taken care of when I was there. So I appreciated that."
While with Lokomotiva, he got a called up to join Canada for the U-20 Concacaf Championship qualifiers in Trinidad and Tobago, starting against St. Vincent and the Grenadines in a 4-0 victory.
"It was probably one of, if not my best experience up to now as a player," said Pavela. "I'd really love to get back there in the future."
Ahead of this season, Pavela says he realized that his best opportunity to make the transition into first-team football was to return home. In February, he signed a two-year deal with York United.
"I thought this could be a good opportunity to come back and look for first-team minutes, obviously with the U-21 minutes rule and stuff," said Pavela.
A crucial factor in his return, as well as his continued development, was York United goalkeeper coach Camilo Benzi. Pavela had trained with Benzi since he was a kid.
"I owe a lot to him, he believes in me, and he's always helping me to improve," said Pavela. "He knows what he's talking about, his style of goalkeeping training really suits me. He knows where I'm lacking, and where I'm good, and he's always trying to work on how I can improve and what the next steps are, which is what I like."
In pre-season, ahead of his first season playing consistently against professionals, for example, they spent a lot of time working on Pavela's control of the box. That included making sure on crosses and deliveries into the area that he was confident and decisive -- something which has shone through this season in Pavela's play.
"I think the worst thing you can be, especially on crosses, is indecisive," said Pavela.
Pavela began the year by starting York's first two matches, including keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 victory over Vancouver FC in their first match of the season while the team was still waiting for Atlético San Luis loanee goalkeeper Diego Urtiaga to arrive. After the Mexican keeper came in, Pavela returned back to the bench, before taking over the net again when Urtiaga recently went down with an injury.
In splitting the net with the 26-year-old, who has 10 games of Liga MX experience, Pavela has learned a lot about patience and professionalism.
"Nothing's guaranteed," said Pavela. "I always went in like that, beginning of the week, nobody's given the right to play. I try to prove myself through training and good performances in the games. We'll go from there, but I trust our coaches to do what's best for the team."
That trust goes both ways, with York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio speaking glowingly about his young goalkeeper following this past weekend's match against Atlético Ottawa.
"We know that Ivan is part of this club, and the future of this club," said Eustáquio. "He's been working very, very well. Fair play to our goalkeeper coach Camilo, who pretty much scouted him, worked with him and now he's polishing him up. He's a kid that's full of confidence, obviously clean sheets bring that."
Aside from personal goals, and looking to grow more as the campaign continues, Pavela has one main mission in mind for the rest of the year for York United.
"They brought us in to win games," says Pavela. "I hope we can win as many games as possible and fight to finish as high as we can in the league, make a run in the playoffs, and go from there... at the end of the day, that's our number one goal."
Pavela and York United will get another big test this weekend as they face undefeated Forge FC in Hamilton on Sunday afternoon (4 p.m. ET, OneSoccer). Both keeper and club, however, will go in confident that they can make another statement about their respective growth.