The City Beautiful. Orlando has been toted this name for its sights but most importantly the magic that it can produce both on a basketball court and in the form bringing everyone's childhood tales to life. Being born just down the road from a famous Mouse in Kissimmee, Florida, Daniel Tregansin grew up in a household that looked to help him excel both academically and athletically. With his parents hailing from Brazil and having a proud Brazilian- American upbringing one can only imagine what the first sport could be.... you guessed it... Tennis. While Soccer was always present in the household, Tennis was the first sport that captured Daniel's love for Sports because both of his parents were former Collegiate Tennis player's themselves. As he grew up, little by little, Daniel began to slowly become interested in the beautiful game through the a strong familiar influence. The funny thing about it is... Daniel didn't; start formally playing soccer until he was 10 years old! His first "My Grandfather played in a couple of teams and really helped me get into the game when he brought us jerseys and played with us". After joining a recreational league in Winter Garden, Daniel made his first strides in his Youth Soccer and attributes a great deal to ACYS (F.K.A FC Elite) for helping with his development. Training with the local club from ages 12-16, Daniel and his family saw college around the corner and felt that there was so much more to refine both on and off the field that they just weren't seeing in their current day to day. They began searching the area and happened to fall around the SIMA Program. 

Ideally, the Tregansin family was looking for a place to combine both the strong academic base they had instilled along with a strong athletic program that could help their kids reach their next step of College. When seeing what the SIMA Program had to offer both on and off the field, they were sold. Being a public school setting for most of their academic life, there was definitely a big culture shock to the differences that Daniel faced in the College Prep school environment. "I felt like the teachers were truly there to help because they emphasized getting the most out of our education". On the field, he felt that the structure and level of coaching that he was getting was special because of the dedication he saw. "There was no other way than to improve with the structure" Tregansin stated.  

In the transition into his Senior Year, Daniel saw tremendous improvement and started to think about college ball. As the year went by, he had soft interests from programs but remained patient as he felt the right offer would come. He was hoping to become an FIU Panther and insisted as best he could to make it happen but Miami was not where he was destined to be at the time. Late into the recruitment period in May and through the help of a mutual friend of the program , Notre Dame College (NCAA DII) offered him a spot to play in the 2019 Fall Season.  

Daniel had a blank slate and a new challenge ahead of him in Ohio. An 18 Year old, High School graduate away from his family competing to earn himself a spot against older and more experienced players. While facing this, he just recalled his experiences in the SIMA Program as he had to fight his way on any team he was on.  In his first year he struggled to find match fitness as he was sidelined for most of the year. He began to focus on his own development to be a standout.  In this process,  he recalls the mentality of " you vs yourself."  What he couldn't show on the pitch he showed in the classroom having himself a strong academic year. As his second semester approached, Daniel had another obstacle to overcome as did the rest of the world at the time. The COVID Pandemic. During the difficult time with the College Season on hold, Daniel made his way back to Florida to train with SIMA Gold while he continued to do his online courses. He worked through the whole pandemic with the SIMA Program and when the opportunity to play a shortened season in 2021 emerged, he had no doubts that he would be ready to go and ready to go he was. Came back and started every game in the season but not in his natural position as a midfielder, he now became a Left Back. In the Fall of that year, Daniel after showing his adaptability as a player was able to showcase what he knew best as a Midfielder for Notre Dame College starting at 15 of 16 matches racking up 1059 minutes played. After a successful Fall season with the Falcon, Tregansin took the momentum into the Spring 2022 season where he earned a co-captaincy! Things seemed to continue to progress in Daniel's journey and as the summer approached he wanted to keep it going. He made the decision to stay the Summer in Cleveland to play for local NPSL side Cleveland FC where he played alongside many top players in the area including the captain of local D1 school Cleveland State. After performing well at Cleveland FC , Daniel saw that he had a new challenge he wanted to try in his college career and that was trying to transfer to a D1 program. After getting on the portal and through the good word of mouth from his new teammate,  was asked if he would consider playing for the Vikings of Cleveland State.   

After much discussion and though with his family, Dani made his way downtown to Cleveland State. Worried of the stigma of being a D2 transfer and seeing where he fell in the pecking order,  Tregansin wasn't sure what kind of environment he was getting himself into in the Vikings locker room. "I was surprised at how welcoming they were and I felt good about my decision after seeing it." In his first year for the Vikings, Daniel started in every match he was healthy to play in playing in 19 matches and even winning a conference title with Cleveland State. Unfortunately, they would knocked by Final Four runners, Pitt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In his final season, it was a tough one for the Vikings but Daniel still appeared in 16 matches and even registered 3 assists to boot.  

As the season came to an end, Daniel's athletic and academic career did not. He graduated with a BS in Health Sciences and is now finishing his Masters in Exercise Science. While working a full time job at a local soccer tech center and as a grad assistant teaching his own class! Even with all this, Daniel is also continuing to train with the Vikings as he looks to continue playing either stateside or even giving it a go back in the motherland of Brazil. " I understand the reality of playing at the next level and I hope to be able to try and continue playing as much as I can and also try to focus on the exercise science field as well." 

"I feel that MVA and SIMA helped in every aspect, especially in dealing with being in a competitive environment. " Stated Tregansin. He feels that the values that he gained of perseverance and determination are what helped him make that transition from Notre Dame College to Cleveland State. 

" One piece of advice that I have for current and future SIMA student-athletes: Don't live in regret . Work your butts off on and off the field. Get the best out of the experience. Not everyone has the luck to be part of a program like SIMA."