Siblings Sam and Leanne Mylymok have
been playing soccer since they were in diapers.

It is a rarity in the sports world to see two or more siblings playing at a high level of competition in the same sport. Professional examples include the six Sutter brothers who played in the NHL, sisters Venus and Serena Williams play professional tennis and, of course, Peyton and Eli Manning both quarterback NFL teams.

What is even more uncommon is a brother and sister duo who excel in the same sport, but the University of Saskatchewan Huskies soccer teams boast this very combination with siblings Sam and Leanne Mylymok.

Sam, the younger of the two, is in his third year with the men’s soccer squad. He plays an inside defensive position for the Dogs and logs some big minutes stopping opponent strikers from reaching Saskatchewan’s net.

He isn’t, however, limited to just his defensive skills.

Sam Mylymok, who is in the College of Arts and Science, boasts offensive abilities as well. Last season he managed one goal on seven shots, which were more goals and more shots than all other defenceman last season. He also added one assist in the 13 matches he started in as a sophomore.

Sam credits his offensive skills to his older sister’s teaching.

“She was always the attacking player and I was the defending player,” he said. “She would teach me attacking stuff, while I taught her how to defend.”

Leanne is one year older than her brother, and one year further into her Canadian university sport eligibility as she enters her fourth year with the Huskies women’s soccer team. The midfielder tied her brother last year for goals scored, with one, but beat his shot total as she tallied nine in her 14 games with the Dogs.

Leanne is in her fourth year at the U of S and her first in the College of Education. She will graduate in the spring of 2014 and plans to teach English and social studies to high school students. Leanne says she would like to find time to coach soccer after she graduates as well.

The Mylymok siblings are the second generation of Huskie soccer players in their family. Their father Lester Mylymok was on the men’s soccer team from 1981-84, and played the same position as Sam.

Both Sam and Leanne say they feel proud to continue the family legacy of playing for the U of S Huskies soccer club.

“I think it’s exciting that we both play now. It’s neat that our dad played and maybe one day if [either of us] have kids they will also get into the sport,” Leanne said.

The two grew up in Saskatoon and both attended Bishop James Mahoney High School, competing for the Saints soccer team. They say they haven’t competed together on the same team since co-ed soccer in their early youth.

Off the field the two often spend time together when the Huskies men’s and women’s squads hang out in the evenings.

Sam shook his head in embarrassment when Leanne said, “We go on double dates together with our significant others too… Sam’s girlfriend agrees to it.”

Over the summer months Sam kept busy, he said, by going on a “16-day canoe trip from Lloyd Lake all the way to Fort McMurray, about 400 kilometres.”

“There were some days where we got up to seventy kilometres,” he added excitedly.

Not to be outdone, Leanne trumped her little brother’s trip by spending over five weeks backpacking in Europe.

“I visited Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. It was awesome, I even caught a Barcelona [soccer] game.”

Both players are also very specific about their pre-game rituals. Sam keeps his cleats untied until he has jogged a full warm-up lap around the field and waits until moments before the start of the game to put on his shin pads.

Leanne doesn’t share her brothers equipment superstitions, but claims she needs to eat a banana before every game and prefers being the last player to step onto the field.

And like all famous sports siblings, the Mylymoks spent many hours perfecting their art in their parents house and inevitably broke a few things along the way.

“We’ve always been playing soccer in the basement and we ended up having to replace our basement wall because there were so many holes in it from soccer balls.”

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Photo: Pete Yee