Exceptionality can arise in many shapes and sizes, and Kliment Taseski is certainly not your average footballer.
For a start, unlike many of his teammates at Green Gully, he claims to have little professional footballing ambition. For a player who described his release from Melbourne Heart at the tender age of 20 as ‘devastating’, it’s a surprising revelation to say the least.
However, you soon realise Taseski is full of surprises. It’s not that losing his A-League contract defeated him. Rather, perhaps, the reason he considers a professional contract “not what I’m about” anymore is because he’s a fully qualified lawyer. An eight-year degree, part-time, started at the age of 18 while still playing for Melbourne Heart.
Softly spoken, yet fiercely intelligent, Taseski is a showcase for the multidimensionality of athletes plying their trade across semi-professional sport. Life outside of football is clearly important to the 25-year-old.
“The older you get, the better you are at using your head and not your legs,” Taseski quips, not for the first time displaying a profound insight into his mentality on and off the pitch. “I’ve got ambitions that are more intrinsically driven rather than outcome driven. Pursuing my other goals has given me perspective.”
It would be a fatal flaw to assume from his relaxed demeanour that Taseski is cavalier. Ironically, it’s his place at the not-so-aptly nicknamed ‘Cavaliers’ that reinforces he is anything but. Under Arthur Papas, Gully have emerged as a beacon of professionalism within the NPL, and while such high standards both on and off the pitch have clear advantages, it’s a reputation that comes with a level of expectation the ever-capable Taseski revels in.
“I really enjoy working with (Papas),” Taseski says. “I’ve seen him develop as a coach and I’m really happy being one of his players.”
“It’s comforting to have a coach that sees everything. It takes some pressure off the players, because you don’t feel like you have to pull anyone up.“
“It equally puts the pressure on you to keep performing because you know he’s going to pull you up if you’re not.”
“Gully has a great reputation as a club that’s professional. You’re not going to have some of the issues that you have with other teams at this level.”
“It’s a unique opportunity. It’s not often you get a coach that’s as ambitious and professional as him.”
The inimitability doesn’t end there. At only 19 years old, Taseski became one of the youngest ever awardees of the Jimmy Rooney medal, after scoring the decisive penalty in Altona Magic’s 2009 VPL winning final.
Rocketing into the national consciousness, a berth in the Young Socceroos and a professional contract at Melbourne Heart soon followed. For Taseski and his family, years of hard work were finally paying off.
“It was a new experience, you’re so young when you initially get picked up. I just finished high school and signed a contract straight away.”
“My parents would drive me to training on the other side of the city,” Taseski reflects. “Dad would pick me up from school at five o’clock and drive me straight to Altona. I used to catch the train to the VIS after school. I was lucky for (the support).”
“You think to yourself, ‘this is what I wanted to do’. For a lot of promising players, you’re not a stranger to being successful at a younger age. When you hit pro, though, that’s when you get serious experience. Not just football experience, but life experience.”
Yet as experience eventually teaches all, life can be cruel. Unfortunately it’s at this point Taseski’s tale becomes all too familiar. While on loan at South Melbourne, an ominously timed broken foot would keep him out for four months, and result in a release of contract from the Heart that would permanently derail Taseski’s dream-like ascendance.
It’s a path, punctuated by unforgiving misfortunes, that is worn by so many across the NPL. However, this is not another hard-luck story. Where many succumb to immense difficulty and embitterment, through determination Taseski eventually emerged, by his own reckoning, a more complete individual.
“Definitely not immediately after, though,” he laughs. “Originally you think to yourself things couldn’t be worse.”
“Not only does time heal, it gives you context,” the midfielder reflects. “It put a pause on my footballing, made me realise how much I enjoyed playing, what value it had in my life, and how I wanted to interact with it going forward.
The candor of the term ‘interact’ makes it an apt descriptor, given Taseski’s uncommonly calm approach towards his career. His success is made all the more unique considering it eventuates from such a distinct approach to life in general.
Within a rigorous framework of preparation, there is also room for a healthy amount of adventurism on Taseski’s part.
While such distinguished educational achievements were always going to hold the versatile footballer in good stead, in telling fashion he has continued to push on-field boundaries, exploring whatever opportunities arise to their fullest potential.
Taseski regards his year’s stint in the Swedish second division – following stints in Victoria for the likes of Moreland Zebras, Richmond SC and Hume City – before signing for Gully as another life experience formative in his content attitude.
“I’ve been lucky to have a few good years,” Taseski says. “I had a good experience playing in Sweden with a team that was playing great football, and that led into signing with Gully.”
“I went out there to make my own way, I didn’t go out there with any prior contracts or trials set up. I was dry calling clubs on occasion and eventually found my way to FC Rosengard.”
“I could play in that league on a student visa, so I got two semesters of exchange in Sweden. It gave me a de facto family in my other students, and a place to live.”
“I hadn’t had a proper European experience. I decided to attempt to get that, which amalgamated with my studies. I wanted a challenge; I was comfortable playing in the NPL and was almost always secured of a position and a team.”
“I wanted to find something a bit more difficult and I did. I had to fight to find a club and then find a comfort zone within all that difficulty.”
In somewhat paradoxical fashion, Taseski proves that studious preparation successfully breeds audacity. He appears vigilant by nature, choosing his words carefully at all times. Yet bravado constantly seeps through, assuring its intrinsic importance for any competitor.
Given his experience, as he enters into the physical peak of his career, Taseski’s future appears bright. It’s hard to imagine an obstacle emerging he will not meet head on, yet with a calm sense of readiness all the same.