Launceston's Ryou signs with Melbourne City youth academy after big move

Those are the words of proud parent Thomas Ryou, with his son Jeho one of the newest members of A-League outfit Melbourne City's youth academy.

After moving to Melbourne in January, the 13-year-old has stormed through the ranks from Box Hill United's under-14s side to the academy, receiving the invitation to try-out in October.

"After multiple rounds of elimination for about three weeks of trial, Jeho got an offer for the under-14 Melbourne City youth academy," Thomas said.

"He is following the pathway to his goal faster than we expected.

"We are satisfied with the progress he has made so far and the commitment and support we made as parents are also paid off to see him getting closer to his dream."

Jeho's soccer journey started when he was six years old, playing for Northern Rangers until under-10s, where he made the move to Riverside Olympic.

The former Launceston Christian School student also represented the Northern Tasmanian Junior Soccer Association in under-10s and under-11s and was picked in the under-12 Tasmanian futsal side earlier this year.

Thomas said the move was a very stressful one but "all fell into place well at the end".

"We love Launceston and Jeho loved the school and the environment around him," he said.

"We also had excellent training facilities for our kids to train in everyday back home in Riverside, they were well maintained and always accessible.

"However, he wanted to improve and test his ability on the mainland.

"He trained with his younger brother almost every day in Tasmania as long as the weather and health permitted.

"He invested his time and passion into soccer since he was six years old, even drawings were about soccer strategies, soccer shoe designs, soccer card games and school books were with a soccer theme."

As he pursues his goal of becoming the best player he can be, Jeho said seeing himself get better and advancing to the next level is the best feeling in the world.

Thomas thanked "every person who has supported Jeho to improve", with his grade five teacher James Ballard among those.

Ballard helped introduce Jeho to former professional goalkeeper Alex Cisak, who lives in Hobart and played a major part in the young gun's development.

Starting next week, Jeho's training will be "intensive" for three or four days per week, with friendlies against other teams also on the agenda.