He may not be a familiar A-League name just yet - but he soon will be.
Still just 15-years-old, Anthony Kalik is the youngest ever player to be offered a professional A-League contract.
"(It was) definitely my dad who wanted me to play football," Central Coast Midfielder Anthony Kalik says.
"I always played it as a kid - I loved it. He loves it as well, so he wanted me to play that. He encouraged me a lot to play, and I kept on loving it."
In March, he and fellow AIS scholarship holder Liam Rose will link up with the Mariners under the watchful eye of Graham Arnold.
Kalik comes with a strong recommendation from former Socceroo and now AIS Head Coach, Tony Vidmar.
"It's a challenging environment but that's what you want," coach Tony Vidmar says.
"The boy's coming from living at home into a program where they're away from their family, which is difficult."
And those working with him, like AIS technical director Peter De Roo, are confident Kalik could be the real deal.
"He has the technical and tactical capabilities to make that step all the time because he's a very smart player, he's very good in how he positions himself as a midfielder," says Mr De Roo.
Central Coast's history of blooding young talent such as Mustafa Amini and Tom Rogic has provided a ready pathway for Kalik.
"I just can't wait to see where things take me with football, yeah I love it," says Kalik.
"Hopefully in the next few years I can play in the A-League, and hopefully from there get a gig overseas - that'd be great."
It's early days yet, but it never hurts to aim high.
"Gotta keep working hard, day in day out, and hopefully it all pays off and I get to my goal," says Kalik.
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Watch the A-League games broadcast live on SBS TWO from October 11. See the broadcast details here.
