Young players may have an opportunity to take part in a few training sessions with professional clubs following a decision taken at the annual meeting of team owners of the Canadian Soccer League over the weekend.
Vincent Ursini
Players 15 and over will be given an opportunity to apply to take part in pre-season training and coaching sessions during a two-week period leading to the CSL’s regular season kickoff and a number will be accepted on a first come first served basis.
The invitation came out of all-day discussions covering a wide range of topics relating to the competition, as well as business and legal issues requiring decisions before the CSL season gets underway.
The league lifted its restriction on the number of players a team can import, a measure introduced by North America’s soccer governance some years ago to ensure there were sufficient spots available in professional soccer for home grown players.
While the game gets tougher, it’s getting cleaner. That’s the opinion of CSL discipline chair Henry Helou who reported that there was a significant reduction in the number of yellow and red cards shown by the referees in 2014. The reduction in the number of discipline hearings and penalties handed down by the discipline panel was also considered to reflect an improvement in the amount of dissent being shown by players and coaches toward match officials.
Club president Ihor Prokipchuk and technical man Stas Honcharuk of Toronto Atomic FC, and SC Scarborough with Angel Belcev and Kiril Dimitrov attended their first CSL owners meeting. Tomo Dancetovic , GM of Brantford Galaxy, was also in attendance following the club’s return after a three-year absence.
“It’s going to be a busy and exciting season with four clubs entering an expanded 12-team First Division that were not there last year,” said Vincent Ursini, president of the CSL who will head the league for a further two years following a decision by the member clubs to extend his term of office.
The season will get underway the weekend of May 9 for both the First Division and the CSL’s reserve team following a pre-season press conference earlier in the week.
