As far is Eli Teichgräber is concerned, a 10-hour bus ride beats the heck out of another visit to the hospital.
The 15-year-old from Tsawwassen is headed this morning for the B.C. Summer Games in Prince George where he will be among 2,300 athletes from 170 communities competing in 18 different sports.
Teichgräber not only prevailed through tryouts to earn a spot on the Vancouver Coastal (Zone 5) boys soccer team, he overcame a life-altering condition that kept him off the pitch for months.
After coming through South Delta United from the age of five, Teichgräber took his game to the Metro level with Surrey FC back in 2019. He enjoyed an impressive debut campaign, notching 36 goals and 10 assists, helping his team come within a point of winning the title. The Coastal Cup playdowns were next until COVID-19 wiped out the balance of the season. It also coincided with Teichgräber’s life changing forever. His skin tone had suddenly turned yellow resulting in numerous visits to the hospital.
It finally took one of the top specialists at B.C. Children’s to determine Teichgräber had Autoimmune Hepatitis, a liver inflammation that occurs when the body's immune system turns against liver cells.
Being highly vulnerable and the pandemic still raging, he spent his entire Grade 8 year at home and off the field too. It wasn’t until last September he was ready to return to class and resume his soccer activities too thanks to an anti-rejection medication he will need to take for the rest of his life.
“Everyone had gone past me, I was way behind at that point,” said Teichgräber of his soccer career. “I had to work extra hard.”
Even with his new medication causing soreness in his joints, Teichgräber has been able to persevere to rejoin his Surrey FC teammates and earn a spot on the Zone 5 team that also features talent from the North Shore and Vancouver. Now he hopes to be returning home on Sunday with a B.C. Games medal.
“It’s going to be fun,” Teichgräber smiled. “We have been practicing together and getting to know each other more. We will be ready.”
Here are the rest of the Delta athletes headed to Prince George:
Artistic Swimming: Jenna Dickie. Athletics: Nicolas Burrows, Enid Gardiya, Makaio Mayer, Henry Nestmann, Smyan Billing. Baseball: Ryder Dingsdale, Noah Farnden, Jake Fehr, Sawyer Shears, Desmon Tregaskis. Box Lacrosse: Michael Burt, Charlie Glover, Wyatt Groom, Holden Johnston, Keelen Magcalas, Carter McIntyre. Equestrian: Eva Rodie. Field Lacrosse: Jayce Sandhu. Golf: Charlie Derrheim. Rowing: Tomoki Macmartin, Harriet Ure. Sailing: Mia Bogulavsky, Nick Rainboth, Sydney Rosler, Gavin Turner. Girls Soccer: Emad Ghashghaee. Boys Soccer: Eli Teichgräber. Girls Softball: Christine Autin, Claire Bannister, Kayla Crampton, Anya Dhillon, Neve Greenidge, Charlize Myers, Elli Thompson. Swimming: Jannat Bhangu, Noelle Evans, Manraj Johal, Harleen Rai. Boys Volleyball: Sawyer Anderson, Matthew Cowx, Kieran Hartley, Blake Medalla, Rylen Pupating, Jack Thompson. Girls Volleyball: Claire Thompson. Wrestling: Ranbir Basra.
