| Svyatik Artemenko | |
| Fullname: | Svyatoslav Artemenko |
| Birth Date: | February 11, 2000 |
| Birth Place: | Odesa, Ukraine |
| Height: | 1.88m |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Currentclub: | Rivers FC |
| Clubnumber: | 1 |
| Youthclubs1: | Bonivital SC |
| Collegeyears1: | 2021 |
| College1: | Guelph Gryphons |
| Collegecaps1: | 15 |
| Collegegoals1: | 0 |
| Collegeyears2: | 2023– |
| College2: | Thompson Rivers WolfPack |
| Collegecaps2: | 12 |
| Collegegoals2: | 0 |
| Years1: | 2019 |
| Clubs1: | WSA Winnipeg |
| Caps1: | 14 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2019 |
| Clubs2: | → Valour FC (loan) |
| Caps2: | 0 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs3: | Guelph United FC |
| Caps3: | 25 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2022 |
| Clubs4: | → York United (loan) |
| Caps4: | 0 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2022 |
| Caps5: | 7 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2023 |
| Clubs6: | Electric City FC |
| Caps6: | 18 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2024– |
| Clubs7: | Rivers FC |
| Caps7: | 2 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Years8: | 2024– |
| Clubs8: | → Valour FC (loan) |
| Caps8: | 0 |
| Goals8: | 0 |
| Pcupdate: | May 20, 2024 |
Svyatik Artemenko (born February 11, 2000) is a Canadian soccer player who plays for Valour FC in the Canadian Premier League on loan from Rivers FC in League1 British Columbia.
Artemenko was born in Odesa, Ukraine.[1] [2] At the age of two, he moved with his family to Winnipeg, Canada.[3] He played youth soccer with Bonivital SC[4] and represented Manitoba at the 2017 Canada Summer Games.[5]
In 2021, he began attending Guelph University, where he played for the men's soccer team.[6] He was named the team Rookie of the Year in 2021.[7] He helped the team win the OUA Championship and was named the OUA goalkeeper of the year and to the U SPORTS National Championship All-Tournament team.[8]
In 2023, he began attending Thompson Rivers University, where he played for the men's soccer team.[9]
In 2019, he played with WSA Winnipeg in USL League Two.[10] Also in 2019, he signed with Valour FC of the Canadian Premier League as an emergency backup goalkeeper, but did not appear in any matches.[11] He attended training camp the following years with Valour, but did not earn a contract.[12] [13]
In 2021, he joined Guelph United F.C. in League1 Ontario.[14] He was named a West Division All-Star and West Division Top Goalkeeper.[15] [16] In the playoff semi-final, Artemenko scored the winning penalty kick, before making the winning save in a penalty shootout against Master's FA to advance to the next round,[17] where Guelph won the championship defeating Blue Devils FC.[18]
In early 2022, he went to Ukraine to trial to earn a professional contract with FC Podillya in the second tier Ukrainian First League, earning a contract on February 23.[19] However, the next day, Russia invaded Ukraine suspending all soccer activities in the country and Artemenko registered for the Ukrainian army.[20]
On May 5, 2022, following his military service in Ukraine, he returned to Guelph United to re-join them for their 2022 season.[21] [22] [23] He made his return in a Canadian Championship match against Canadian Premier League club HFX Wanderers FC.[24] In August 2022, he joined Canadian Premier League side York United FC as an emergency goalkeeper substitute for a few matches following an injury to Niko Giantsopoulos.[25]
In August 2022, he joined FC Berlin of the United Premier Soccer League ahead of the 2022 UPSL Fall season.[26]
In March 2023, he joined Electric City FC in League1 Ontario.[27] [28]
In 2024, he began playing with Rivers FC in League1 British Columbia. In May 2024, he joined Valour FC on a short-term replacement player contract, following an injury to their starting goalkeeper.[29]
Between the ages of 16 and 18, Artemenko trained as a combat engineer with the Canadian Reserve Forces in Winnipeg.[30]
In February 2022, Artemenko, who was in Ukraine pursuing a professional soccer career, enlisted with the Armed Forces of Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[31] [32] While he was not required to enlist in the army as he was a Canadian citizen, he felt it was his duty to protect his ancestral homeland.[33] He was initially not allowed to join due to not being a Ukrainian citizen, however, the next day his application was approved as part of an International Legion.[34] His club team, Guelph United hosted a fundraiser to raise funds for the Ukrainian Red Cross in support of Artemenko's cause.[35] He returned to Canada in early May, following a two-month tour of duty.[36] [37] In April 2024, Canadian sports broadcasting channel TSN filmed a documentary focusing on Artemenko and his experience.[38]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | National Cup[39] | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| WSA Winnipeg | 2019 | USL League Two | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||||
| Valour FC (loan) | 2019 | Canadian Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Guelph United FC | 2021 | League1 Ontario | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2022 | 13 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |||
| York United FC (loan) | 2022 | Canadian Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| FC Berlin | 2022[40] | United Premier Soccer League | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Electric City FC | 2023[41] | League1 Ontario | 18 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 65 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 0 | |||