York Region Shooters plan UK visit this summer
TORONTO – Wednesday, March 5 – Carlo Rivas Jr keeps the best of company and it’s not all in the family.
Carlo is the son of Carlos Rivas, one of the best midfielders to come out of South America and known for his outstanding play when Chile qualified for the 1982 World Cup finals. Today he operates the longstanding, highly successful Carlos Rivas Soccer School in southern Ontario.
Canadian-born Carlo, also a midfielder who started his career with Cruz Azul in Mexico followed by a several seasons in the Chilean first division and has in more recent times played for York Region Shooters in the CSL, is also the grandson of Adan Godoy, the goalkeeper for Chile in the 1966 World Cup in England. Carlo’s full name includes Godoy – it’s on his mother’s side.
Outside of the family, Carlo Rivas Jr met recently with Manuel Pellegrini, manager of English Premier League side Manchester City who played for Chile alongside Carlos Rivas, and from that meeting a visit to Manchester by York Region Shooters’ academy group of players is in the works for this coming summer.
Such visits provides exposure for the academy players to be seen by local coaches in a different soccer environment and the notable successes of about 100 Canadians playing in Europe at any given time over the years gives testimony to what exposure can achieve, either by an arranged trial or a scouting mission while players are at a young age.
One of the most notable examples would be Atiba Hutchinson who played for the Shooters and went on to represent Canada, was twice chosen Canada’s Player of the Year – in 2010 and 2012 – and has played for several top level clubs in Europe.
Keep an eye open for further details coming from York Region Shooters in the weeks ahead.