Congratulations to…..
York Region Shooters, for winning the CSL Championship for the second time since entering the league in 2002 and for doing it in such fine style with a never-say-die attitude that brought victory and an unbeaten 21 games in league and playoff competition.
York Region Shooters and Toronto Croatia for putting on a thriller on October 26 which has brought many comments from those who were lucky enough to see what surely turned out to be the most exciting game of the CSL season.
Kingston FC, for its remarkable launch in Canada’s toughest league, winning the First Division title in 2013, the Second Division title in the season just ended, all while demonstrating it is possible to be a winner while following the rules and showing respect to the opposition and the referee. Kingston was voted by the member clubs as the winner of the annual Fair Play and Respect Award.
North York Astros, for staging a highly successful final for both the First and Second divisions at Esther Shiner Stadium on October 27, which was preceded by their hosting of the annual CSL Gala Awards night for presentation of the league’s major awards.
Marin Vucemelovic Grgic of London City, voted the 2014 MVP in the CSL to repeat this same honour while playing for Toronto Croatia in 2012. The 27 year-old Croatian-born striker also received the top goalscorer award in the First Division in 2014, scoring 21 goals.
Mademba Ba, the 25 year-old son of a Senegal diplomat based in Ottawa playing for Kingston FC, for scoring a total 40 goals in the 2014 season, 31 of which won him the Second Division goalscoring title. The remaining nine were scored while playing for his club’s first team. Ba also won the MVP in the CSL Second Division
Phil Ionadi, a member of the CSL board of directors as the director for youth, for his hard work with the fledgling Canadian Academy of Futbol (CAF). His efforts earned the former pro the league’s Harry Paul Gauss Award for 2014.
Marco Jaramillo, for being selected the Referee of the Year in 2014, his first year officiating in the Canadian Soccer League. Mr. Jaramillo also ended the season doing a superb job as referee of the high tempo championship final between York Region Shooters and Toronto Croatia.
To others who also received major awards after being voted the best in 2014 – goalkeeper Vladimir Vujasinovic (Burlington SC), defender Josip Keran (Toronto Croatia), defender Nikola Stanojevic (Burlington SC), rookie Aleksander Stojiljkovic (SC Waterloo), coach Darryl Gomez (York Region Shooters), goalkeeper Adrian Ibanez (York Region Shooters B), defender Danilo Richards (Burlington SC), rookie Nikola Miokovic (SC Waterloo B) and coach Thomas Moran (Kingston FC B).
To all who contributed to the CSL maintaining its position as Canada’s top league during 2014 while weathering the storm of change, an exercise that has occurred from time to time since the league began playing in 1926. And to paraphrase an oft-used comment from soccer historian Colin Jose when he wrote in his book ‘On-Side’, that while the forerunner league of the CSL was born out of turmoil in the tumultuous years of the 1920s, the league has stood the test of time while other leagues in North America have come and gone.
NEXT: Games in 2014 worth mentioning – and why.