Ihor Prokipchuk has plenty on his mind these days.
The Ukrainian-born Toronto businessman running a successful company in the heating and cooling industry and pre-occupied with a busy soccer academy, is about to launch Atomic FC, a team in the competitive Canadian Soccer League. All while his mind remains fixed on the daily strife in his former homeland which by chance makes his team the beneficiary of a number of players moving to Canada.
“I’ve wanted to play a greater role in professional soccer for as long as I can remember and the CSL gives me that opportunity to launch this team and include some players wanting to get away from the trouble where soccer has now taken a back seat. The players are grateful to Canada for the opportunity to play in the CSL,” said the former pro player from that eastern European country.
Several players have already been granted work permits to play in the CSL, including from Lviv, Ternopil and Dnipropetrovsk.
Atomic FC will kick off its CSL campaign in May, one of two additions in an expanded 12-team First Division in the CSL. SC Scarborough is the other, while Brantford Galaxy returns from a three-year absence and Milton SC moves up to the top division following a successful first year launch in the CSL Division Two. Other First Division teams in Canada’s top league this upcoming season are Brampton City Utd., Burlington SC, London City, Niagara United, Serbian White Eagles, Toronto Croatia, SC Waterloo and York Region Shooters.
Prokipchuck, who played for six years as a professional in a country where football is the dominant sport highlighted by a quarter-finals position for the national team in the 2006 World Cup and followed by a successful hosting of the 2012 European Championship.
Prokipchuk is surrounded in his soccer activities by an abundance of skills with no shortage of experience, including head coach Ihor Yavorsky, who holds a UEFA B licence and time in the Ukraine’s Premier League and First Division, while Stas Honcharuk, a product of the Dynamo Kyiv academy who excels as an instructor in the local academy environment, has played professionally in the Ukraine and Poland. He will be playing for the CSL professional team.
“We take our football very seriously and the CSL will find we have a very professional approach to the game as we channel our young academy players in the right direction,” said Prokipchuk. The Atomic Selects Academy is a member of the Canadian Academy of Futbol (CAF). Of course, we share the responsibility of supporting our people in the Ukraine. Everyone understands that Ukrainians are hard-working, decent people wherever they are and we in Canada will do whatever we can to help,” he added.
Atomic FC are also entering a reserve team in the CSL Second Division and both teams will be playing out of the LCI Institute Stadium in Toronto’s west-end for a kickoff expected to be the weekend of May 16.
Players seeking a tryout for first entry to professional soccer are invited to email atomicselects2013@gmail.com.
Player Kiril Dimitrov, transferred from Bulgarian second league club PFC Belasica to Serbian White Eagles in the Canadian Soccer League in 2009, and who played the 2014 season for SC Waterloo, believes Scarborough, Ontario deserves a professional soccer team.
The Bulgaria-born midfielder is spearheading the launch of SC Scarborough in the CSL First Division, one of three new clubs to join Canada’s top professional league.
Scarborough is accompanied in the 12-team CSL top division by new entries Toronto Atomic Selects, Brantford Galaxy and Milton SC. Brantford is a team returning following a three-year absence, and Milton SC has been elevated from the CSL Second Division.
“I live in Scarborough, a great soccer community, which has a very good ground in Birchmount Stadium, one of the sites earmarked for the Pan American Games, but we are discussing the possibility of our team playing there as well,” said Dimitrov, following his club’s acceptance in the CSL.
Two teams from last year’s CSL First Division – North York Astros and Kingston FC – will not be returning for the coming season, for a net increase of two teams. Each team will play 22 games.
In addition to Scarborough SC, Toronto Atomic Selects, Brantford Galaxy and Milton SC, teams in the 2015 CSL league formation are the current league champions York Region Shooters, Toronto Croatia, Brampton City Utd, Burlington SC, London City, Niagara United, Serbian White Eagles and SC Waterloo.
York Region Shooters won the 2014 CSL Championship with a penalty kick decision over Toronto Croatia in the final game last October 26 after going undefeated the entire season.
The upcoming CSL Second Division will consist of reserve teams only and the complete CSL schedule for both divisions will kickoff in May for a six-month season ending the end of October or early November.
A little more than a year ago, Toronto Croatia of the Canadian Soccer League created a documentary film – Toronto Croatia – Jedna Velika Hrvatska Priča – a Great Canadian Story, and the inaugural showing took place in Mississauga on January 17, 2014.
Toronto Metros-Croatia signed Portuguese superstar Eusebio
An important part of the story was the winning by Toronto Metros-Croatia of Soccer Bowl 76, which was emblematic of the soccer championship of the United States and Canada. Toronto Metros-Croatia, a club formed by a merger of Toronto Metros of the North American Soccer League and a Croatian group representing Toronto Croatia of the National Soccer League (a forerunner league of today’s Canadian Soccer League), attracted a number of soccer stars leading to winning the North American title, including Portuguese superstar Eusébio. The Toronto Metros-Croatia victory for a Toronto team was the first since the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1967.
Present at the showing in Mississauga, was Dick Bezic, who was a principal representative of the Croatian group that negotiated the purchase of shares for Toronto Croatia and Bruce Thomas, the major shareholder with the original Toronto Metros.
The following article,written by Michael Lewis, ‘How Eusébio and a team of Canadian Croatians took North American soccer by storm’, which appeared in The Guardian on February 11, touches on the trials and tribulations of the new Toronto Metros-Croatia during the few years the club existed.
The team had salaries paid for by their own fans in the basement of a Toronto church, boasted one of the world’s greatest players and secured the first major championship by a Canadian football club. And the Toronto Metros-Croatia managed all this in one tumultuous season, despite being a giant thorn in the side of their own league.
During their short four-year existence, the Metros-Croatia proved to be a colorful, intriguing and entertaining team, even if the North American Soccer League would have preferred the club to go away or least change their name. No North American pro football team had an ethnic name associated with it – before or since.
“How we kept our sanity through the whole season, I really don’t know,” says Aldo Principe, the general manager of the club in their 1976 championship season. “Our season has been from one extreme to the other. We got lost somewhere in the middle, but we found ourselves in time. No one gave us much of a chance.”
In 1975 the NASL was poised take a higher orbit in American professional sports. Pele signed with the New York Cosmos, an event that would open the door to some of the biggest football names on the planet – Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, Johan Cruyff, Bobby Moore, Giorgio Chinaglia and Eusébio.
At the other end of the spectrum were the Toronto Metros, struggling to keep themselves afloat. The owners, who were deep in debt, sold the team to members of Toronto Croatia, a side that played in the National Soccer League of Canada. The Croatians renamed the franchise the Metros-Croatia, much to the chagrin of the league, which wanted to avoid ethnic affiliations as it went mainstream.
“It was obviously important to maintain the franchise in Toronto and this was the group that came forward to buy out the existing owners, who at that point could not continue,” says Ted Howard, who was the NASL’s director of administration at the time. “Basically, the league was in a situation where beggars couldn’t be choosers. They had a solvent ownership group that was dedicated.
“The biggest concern in a lot of ways, the name was a concern because it didn’t say what we wanted it to say to the public at large, that it sounded more like a club team in a city rather than a club team in an international league.”
That vision, however, would have to wait a few years.
“We knew we weren’t liked very much around the league because we had an ethnic name,” Metros-Croatia defender Damir Sutevski says. “Considering that the league was in the beginning stages, they had to take, accept the offer, of Croatia but they didn’t like it.”
The Metros-Croatia captured Soccer Bowl 1976, the NASL championship. Yet the club’s owners and front office felt they were treated as though they were the black sheep of the league.
“We’re the underdogs no matter where we’ve been,” says George Simcic, who was the club’s general manager in 1977. “We’ve been pushed around by the rest of the league and press.
“They called us winning the championship [in 1976] something incredible. What’s so incredible? So what if we don’t have the marketing a New York, Tampa or Minnesota has. That has nothing to do with the game on the field. They have the money. We have the team.”
The Metros-Croatia used some rather unconventional methods to operate a championship team. With the club deep in debt in 1976, after one Sunday service at the Our Lady Queen of Croatia church, several members of the congregation met in the basement to take up a collection. The goal was to pay the salary of Filip Blaskovic, a superb central defender from Croatia, which at that time was part of Yugoslavia. Hundreds of Metros-Croatia shareholders belonged to the church, which was the focal point of social activities in the community.
According to one witness, “It’s like a social club. They take up a collection and you see dollars and checks all over the place. By the time they were finished, they had raised $10,000 for Blaskovic. What they [did] is common is common knowledge in Toronto. When you need financial attention, you know they’re [Croatians] there. It’s not a very professional way of running things, but it did the job.”
The church did not have a problem with that set-up. “Our members directly support the team,” Father Gjuran of the church said in 1977. “The church doesn’t give directly. But I’m a soccer fan because of it.”
“The way the salaries were set up they were based on European standards,” Sutevski said. “You had a base salary and you had bonuses for each win. So the hats were passed to the fans. Basically they were collecting money for the best players and then we shared between all of the players.”
Sutevski remembered that each player received a bonus of $1,000-$1,500 a game. “Of course, as we progressed in the playoffs, the bonuses were getting higher and higher,” he added “We always remember the fact the people [gave] away from their hard-earned income to satisfy our needs and desires to win.”
The Metros-Croatia called Varsity Stadium, a 22,000-seat venue owned by the University of Toronto, home. There wasn’t a bad seat in the house. While the Metros-Croatia rarely filled the place, even a vociferous crowd of 6,000 could sound more like 16,000, given its extreme passion. The team, however, averaged only 5,555 a game in 1976, 15th out of a 20-team league that averaged 10,295 a match.
One Toronto sportswriter, who asked for anonymity, received a first-hand message how seriously those fans took the sport. “I reported the game perfectly straight, but I had to report that Croatia lost,” he said. “Two nights later I arrived home to find on my front step a big, furry bat, nailed to a board with a spike driven through its heart. It was a criticism from the [fans].”
The team had nine players of Croatian and Yugoslavian descent, with players from nine other nations represented, including Greece, Poland, Northern Ireland, Germany, Suriname, Hungary and Canada. And then there was Portuguese great Eusébio. The Ballon d’Or winner, who would go on to be voted of the 10 best footballers of the 20th century, was in the twilight of his legendary career but still a dangerous player.
“Needless to say, he was one of the greatest players in the world,” Sutevski said. “Even though he had a bad knee, he put everything he had in the game.”
Indeed. Eusébio, whose knee was constantly worked on by team trainer Pat Quinn, demonstrated he could produce some magic, scoring 16 goals in 21 matches and creating four others.
“A lot of [opposing] players were afraid of him because they knew his history,” Sutevski said. “His free kicks, his ball distribution, were awesome.”
Similar superlatives also could be bestowed on Brazilian midfielder Ivair Ferreira, nicknamed “The Prince,” according to Sutevski, and German midfielder Wolfgang Suhnholz, a mid-season acquisition who became the midfield general.
After enduring a mid-season swoon in which the team failed to score in seven consecutive games, Toronto’s intense and demanding coach Ivan “The Terrible” Markovic got into a confrontation with Eusébio. A major change was on the horizon.
Markovic benched Eusébio for a home game against Pele and the New York Cosmos on 7 July. Word had it that the Black Panther was sick or was trying to recover from a leg injury as he missed a 3-0 defeat. “Sick? Eusébio asked in disbelief, according to the Toronto Star. “I’m healthy. This has never happened to me in my life. I can’t believe it. … There is a lot of politics involved.”
One club official said that Eusébio, who was considered a disruptive force, would be placed on waivers, the prelude to a player getting released. Everything was turned upside four days later. After a 2-1 home win over the Portland Timbers, in which Eusébio broke a team scoreless streak of 775 minutes and nine seconds (the NASL measured time in minutes and seconds, rather than hours), Markovic was fired.
Marijan Bilic, who directed the team to a 13-9 mark in 1975, was reinstated as coach and he brought in Domagoj Katepanovic as his tactician. It was a bumpy ride at first as the team lost three successive matches before reeling off four straight wins to finish with a 15-9 record, second in the Northern Division and tied for the sixth best overall mark.
On the eve of their playoff opener against their arch-rivals, the Rochester Lancers on 18 August, the team found themselves without their starting goalkeeper as Paulo Cimpiel staged a one-man strike, demanding more money. The club promoted Zeljko Bilecki, who had played only three times during the regular-season.
Bilecki, who made several vital saves, wasn’t even the hero. Defensive midfielder Gene Strenicer, who had not scored during the regular season, tallied a controversial goal with only second remaining in regulation for a 2-1 win (there was no stoppage time in those days). “God helped us tonight,” Bilic told reporters. “We needed somebody’s help tonight.”
Two days later, Ferreira, struck twice in 3-2 shootout win over the host Chicago Sting, 3-2. The Metros-Croatia then dispatched the defending champion Tampa Bay Rowdies, 2-0, in the semi-finals as Eusébio and Ted Polak found the back of the net. “We didn’t think we were going to make it past Tampa,” Sutevski says. “That was a weird surprise.”
That set up an 28 August Soccer Bowl confrontation with the Western Division champions Minnesota Kicks, who were considered favorites on the strength of their youth, speed and dynamic attack (54 goals in 24 matches). They had won 10 of their last 11 matches.
CBS TV announcers were given directives by the league not to use the nicknames of the teams, only their city names, to keep away from the ethnically-based Croatia.
But that was no way the Metros-Croatia could be stopped on the field though, as they rolled to a 3-0 triumph in Seattle’s Kingdome. Eusébio scored via a 40th-minute free kick. Ivan Lukacevic and Ferreira added two more in the second half. Suhnholz was named the game’s outstanding player.
Sutevski attributes the team’s success to their “experience and knowledge of the game. … Everyone tried very hard. The team didn’t get hurt. They called us a Cinderella team because no one gave us a chance to win the whole thing.”
The problems with the league continued though. The NASL, in the first paragraph of its report on the Soccer Bowl, called the team the Toronto Metros, leaving out Croatia. On top of that no Metros-Croatia was selected as first- or second-team all-stars, though Suhnholz and Cimpiel received honorable mentions.
Simcic felt the league’s failure to recognize the club as the Metros-Croatia cost them $200,000 in potential investments from the Croatian community, a decent sum of money in those days. “I personally feel it’s an injustice made on the owners of the team,” he says. “They approved the name … so why not keep it? There wouldn’t be a franchise in Toronto if it wasn’t for the Croatian community.”
The team lasted another two years before Prosoccer Limited purchased it prior to the 1979 season, ending the ethnic affiliation. It was renamed the Toronto Blizzard and moved to the larger CNE Stadium. “We wanted a name which could be identified with Canada,” the team president, Bruce Morton, said. “A name which could meet the perception of Canada held by most North Americans and Europeans.” The Blizzard advanced to Soccer Bowl in 1983 and 1984, but never quite reached their predecessors’ heights.
Toronto FC have since taken up the mantle. In contrast to the Metros-Croatia’s success, FC have struggled and have never reached the playoffs since joining Major League Soccer in 2007. That is a rather dubious distinction considering almost half the teams reach the postseason every year.
As for the likelihood of a team return with an ethnic name returning to North American professional football, the chances are slim if not impossible. “I don’t foresee that happening because the [new] league is a lot stronger now,” Sutevski says. ‘I don’t think the league itself would let it happen.”
Although if MLS did, it could lead to some intriguing adventures, not unlike the Toronto Metros-Croatia themselves.
York Region Shooters – 2014 Champions – unbeaten in 21 games
There will be more teams in the Canadian Soccer League’s First Division in 2015.
The 2014 10-team First Division is expected to increase by at least two for the May kickoff and a six-month long campaign that will stretch to the end of October, possibly early November.
The CSL has approved in principle the addition of expansion clubs Scarborough FC and Toronto Atomic. The return of Brantford Galaxy was confirmed earlier. Milton FC, a Second Division team in 2014, will also be in the First Division.
“It’s going to be a strong line-up of teams when the final 2015 league formation is announced mid-February,” said Pino Jazbec, the CSL administrator, following an executive meeting recently.
The CSL is third tier in Canada, below MLS – which has Canadian teams Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps – and the second tier North American Soccer League, with FC Edmonton and Ottawa Fury. The US Pro league will increase its presence in Canada with the entry of reserve team Toronto FC II
to join FC Montreal in the Eastern Conference. All three leagues are U.S. based.
The CSL will continue to further develop its popular Second Division of reserve teams in 2015. The Second Division is considered an ideal entry for teams requiring a two-stage approach to professional soccer, an environment that has established the CSL over many years as the stepping stone to higher levels.
More than 40 CSL players have been selected for various national teams in recent years, mostly at the youth level, and numerous players have moved to higher level professional clubs. And the trend continues today, with opportunities for players such as defender Winston Crozier of York Region Shooters. The Mississauga native has four years of CSL experience and has been invited to join English Premier League club Burnley for trial this coming July.
Toronto FC coach Jason Bent commented recently on his experiences as coach of the TFC academy team in the CSL prior to being assigned to the MLS first squad. The highly regarded Bent, a Canadian international midfielder who played for Colorado Rapids in MLS, also in Germany and England before joining Toronto FC, has now been appointed head coach of Toronto FC II. “ I learned a lot in the CSL,” said Bent.
York Region Shooters are the defending CSL champions in the upcoming 2015 season, having defeated Toronto Croatia in the final played at Toronto last October 26. The Shooters completed 21 regular season and playoff games undefeated.
The Kingston vs Waterloo match on June 15 had everything, while the championship game on October was one of the best games played in recent times
Marin Vucemilovic Grgic scored his first goal of the season for London City on May 24 in a 4-1 loss to Niagara United. The goal kicked off a prolific season for the Croatian-born striker who went on to find the net 19 more times to lead the First Division in scoring and win the goalscoring title for the second time in three years.
Sunday May 25 – Forward Leaford Allen marked the opening weekend of the season with a hat-trick when his Brampton City Utd defeated new CSL champions Waterloo on May 25. On the same day, York Region Shooters embarked upon a 21-game unbeaten streak with a 3-2 victory over Kingston FC.
Saturday, June 14 – Serbian White Eagles’ striker Milos Scepanovic, a former Canada youth player, led his team with three goals to a 6-0 rout of Burlington SC in the only game played this day.
Sunday, June 15 – A match ending in a 4-4 tie played this day between Kingston FC and SC Waterloo had everything, according to photographer Les Jones. A chippy affair, the game had many bookings, a goalkeeper – Imad Hakura of Waterloo – was taken off injured in the second half, there were eight goals including two in the last two minutes, and one player, Drazen Vukovic of Waterloo, scored a hat-trick. With the score at 2-2, Vukovic put Waterloo ahead 3-2 at 83 minutes, Surot of Kingston scored from the penalty spot to tie the game 3-3 at 85 minutes, Vukovic completed his hat-trick to make it 4-3 at 94 minutes and Ryan McCurdy saved the game for home side Kingston, scoring at 95 minutes just before the final whistle.
Saturday, June 28 – It took a month for CSL current champions SC Waterloo to register their first victory of the new season this day, a 2-1 win over Serbian White Eagles at Lamport Stadium in Toronto.
Sunday, June 29 – A 5-0 triumph by North York Astros on this day in 2014 confirmed observations that this was a new Astros, the result topped previous notable away victories when the Astros defeated Portugal FC 4-0 at Brockton Stadium on August 2, 2009 and a 4-1 result over London City at Cove Road a month later. The North York team has experienced lean times of late and may now be on the upturn.
Sunday, June 29 – This day was memorable in the Second Division when SC Waterloo reserves ran riot over Serbian White Eagles second squad at Eglinton Flats in Toronto, a 16-0 rout in which Nikola Miokovic led the way with six. On the same day, Kingston FC reserves blitzed Burlington SC reserves 9-1 when Mademba Ba, son of a former member of the foreign diplomatic corps in Ottawa, put diplomacy to one side to score seven goals.
Sunday, July 27 – York Region Shooters were creating excitement when on this day half way through the season, after seven wins and two ties, the team from just north of Toronto was still unbeaten. Their game this day, played at the St. Joan of Arc ground at Maple, ended 1-0 for the Shooters after being abandoned at 55 minutes due to lightning. The result stood and York Region were on top of the First Division table with 23 points, seven points in front of Burlington SC in second place. Sunday, July 27 – SC Waterloo moved up from the bottom position in the First Division standings with a 1-0 away win at Brampton. The Southwestern Ontario side raised eyebrows with its poor early season performance after winning the CSL Championship at the end of the 2013 season.
Sunday, August 3 – Jorge Collazo returned as head coach to the North York Astros bench, his first game since the 2011 season and marked the occasion with a 2-1 victory at Kingston FC. The Astros 4-3-3 record again signalled a transformation, with even better things ahead.
Sunday August 24 – York Region Shooters became the first team to secure a playoff spot in the CSL First Division with a 2-0 home victory over SC Waterloo this day, and the win put the still unbeaten Shooters nine points ahead of a chasing Toronto Croatia in second place.
Sunday, September 21 – York Region Shooters win the First Division title with a 1-1 with North York Astros to reach an impressive 12 wins and 4 draws in the 16 games played so far in the season.
Saturday, October 4 – Serbian White Eagles clinch the last of eight playoffs spots available for the CSL Championship with a 5-1 victory over London City.
Sunday, October 26 – York Region Shooters won the CSL Championship with a 5-4 penalty kicks victory over Toronto Croatia following a 1-1 tie at the end of regular time and 30 minutes of overtime at Esther Shiner Stadium, Toronto. In winning the overall title, the Shooters completed a 21-game season unbeaten, a performance not seen in the CSL or its forerunner leagues in recent times. The final game with the always impressive Toronto Croatia – a club holding four CSL titles in the past 10 years – was a thriller, and certainly the most exciting encounter of the season to go down as one of the best games played in the CSL for many years. Kingston won the Second Division Championship earlier in the day, a 2-0 victory over SC Waterloo reserves to complete a memorable day in the CSL.
Dave Simpson celebrates game winning goal for Brantford Galaxy in 2012. The Galaxy returns to CSL for 2015 season.
Brantford Galaxy, which launched a team in the Canadian Soccer League in 2010 to win the CSL championship in its first season, then took time off in 2012 “to re-group”, will return to professional soccer in 2015.
It was an unexpected inaugural season championship victory in 2010, a 3-0 defeat of Hamilton Croatia following a regular season struggle to make the playoffs. Galaxy were crowned champions following a successful playoff run which came at the end of the team’s regular season nine wins in a 24-game schedule, finishing seventh in the 13-team First Division.
But the southwestern Ontario side played attractive soccer and games were well-attended with strong community support, including from local government. There was a mission to have local soccer under one umbrella.
Brantford Galaxy used three head coaches during the three-year stint – Lazo Dzepina, Ron Davidson and Tomo Dancetovic. The highly regarded Dzepina was head coach during the championship success, then moved to SC Waterloo and guided that team to a CSL Championship victory, also.
“We are excited at the thought of returning to pro soccer and look forward to our kickoff in the CSL next May,” said Andrew Pilkington, a staunch supporter of the Brantford team and sports in the community.
The CSL board also confirmed a full membership status for Milton SC following a successful 2014 as a playing member in the CSL Second Division. Two additional clubs have applied to join the CSL to kickoff in 2015 and their applications are still under consideration.
The CSL is considering a structure of three divisions for its 2015 regular season and a cup competition is also under consideration in addition to the end-of-season playoffs leading to the CSL Championship.
York Region Shooters are the current CSL champions following a penalty kick victory over Toronto Croatia at Esther Shiner Stadium last October 26.
One of the great joys for this Holiday Season is the opportunity to say Thank you! to
our clubs, sponsors, players, fans and media! The CSL would like to express its sincerest appreciation
to all its members for the trust that they have placed in us! We wish you the very best and
success for the coming New Year!
York Region Shooters – 2014 Champions – unbeaten in 21 games
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 DaniloRichards (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.
Jonathan Osorio, the Canadian Soccer League rookie of the year in 2012 while playing for SC Toronto, looked very much the part after entering the field for Canada at 62 minutes in an international friendly against Panama which ended in a scoreless tie at the Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City November 18.
Osorio was picked up by his present club, Toronto FC, following an impressive season in the CSL which included a number of key goals that helped SC Toronto clinch the First Division runner-up spot. It was considered the Toronto west-end team’s best season ever following a 21-game regular season league schedule.
Osorio scored 11 goals that season, highlighted by a hat-trick in a 5-0 away victory at London August 17, a win that put SC Toronto briefly on top of the First Division.
Osorio made his MLS debut for Toronto FC on March 9, 2013 and scored his first goal against the Los Angeles Galaxy March 30. Following a successful 2013 season he trained with English club Huddersfield Town and the Bundesliga’s Werder Bremen during the off season.The 22 year-old Toronto-born midfielder has made appearances for Canada at various youth levels before his debut for the senior side on May 28, 2013.
Other former CSL players in the Panama friendly were Atiba Hutchinson (formerly with York Region Shooters), Doneil Henry (formerly TFC Academy), Patrice Bernier and Karl Ouimette, both formerly with Montreal Impact Academy. More than 40 former CSL players have been selected for various national teams in recent years.
Canadian team goalkeeper Milan Borjan was outstanding to be picked Man of the Match following a number of spectacular saves that prevented Panama from scoring. Milan is the son of Bosko Borjan who won the CSL championship as president of Brantford Galaxy in 2010.
Winning is only part of the story behind the four clubs to reach the Canadian Soccer League championship finals which concluded the CSL season on October 26. York Region won the CSL Championship and Kingston reserves captured the second Division title.
The desire to develop players is an overriding feature of York Region Shooters, Toronto Croatia, Kingston FC and SC Waterloo.
These clubs – and others in the CSL – are making player development, together with the all important will to win attitude demonstrated on the field of play, a force that will bring short and long-term results that benefit the player, the league and Canadian soccer in general..
New CSL champions York Region Shooters – undefeated in 2014 – have been developing players for several years now with strong coaching and technical staff, but the recently announced addition of the high profile Bob de Klerk takes player development to a whole new level.
De Klerk, a promising professional in Europe whose career was cut short through injury, spent 10 years with the Ajax youth system before moving to North America January 2011 where he joined Toronto FC to work with fellow Dutchman, former TFC head coach Aron Winter.
Known as a soccer educator par excellence, de Klerk also spent time with Ajax Cape Town in South Africa and recently was director of youth development with Dalian Aerbin FC of the Chinese Super League.
York Region Shooter’s owner Tony De Thomasis said in making the announcement: “I believe there are enough promising young players in our region that can achieve high level pro soccer with the right training and skills development and with Bob de Klerk’s help we intend to offer that opportunity. We need even more highly qualified people who can spot promising players with the trained eye.”
Toronto Croatia, the most prominent team in the CSL in recent years following the club’s entry into pro soccer in 1956, has announced the launch of the Toronto Croatia Academy as a member of the Canadian Futbol Academy (CAF). Toronto Croatia Academy will teach and coach the technical side of the game, participate in tournaments at home and abroad, and will pursue soccer scholarships.
The club’s impressive record of nine championships in domestic competition and success in the Croatian World Club Championships is an attractive proposition for young players looking to develop their skills and overall potential as a player at the higher levels of the game.
“The success we have enjoyed in competition here in Canada and internationally at the pro level will now include player development to give young players an opportunity to see how far they can go,” said Joe Pavicic, president and owner of the club following the announcement.
Players can call a direct line for information on the new Toronto Croatia Academy at 416 400-1192 or send an email to torontocroatiaacademy@outlook.com.
Kingston FC recently announced a comprehensive development program to accommodate youngsters at age four through to their upper teens, and will be on the lookout for players of the higher age group showing a sufficient skill level to eventually be good prospects for high level professional soccer.
This all means that whatever the age group and level of ambition, the Kingston FC Pro Soccer Academy and the already successful Kingston City Soccer Academy will be working together to offer a program to suit every young individual interested in playing good football.
Kingston FC has helped raise the awareness of soccer in the region to a new level in a very short time period with the club’s two championships – the 2013 CSL First Division title and the 2014 CSL Second Division win – both achieved since coming under the new management of chairman Lorne Abugov and president Joseph Scanlon less than three years ago.
SC Waterloo is the focal point for soccer in the Waterloo Region which stretches from the twin cities of Kitchener-Waterloo to Cambridge, Guelph and Stratford, and the club’s presence with Ginga Soccer in the Canadian Academy of Futbol (CAF) has provided a more serious developmental platform for young players in that part of Southwestern Ontario.
Ginga Soccer, to which SC Waterloo is affiliated, is partnered with Cesc Fabregas Academy, an organization poised for greater expansion including more high level technical skills personnel ready to step on board during 2015.
Head coach Lazo Dzepina’s background with his abundance of coaching and technical skills (and CSL championship victories (with both Waterloo and Brantford Galaxy) has also helped to make SC Waterloo an attractive proposition for young players in that part of the province.
The CSL is changing. While improving its position as the professional soccer league in Canada it continues to interface with more player development, a trend that will reap benefits in the near term and for many years to come.
York Region Shooters won the Canadian Soccer League championship with a 5-4 score in penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation time and an extra 30 minutes of overtime at Esther Shiner Stadium in Toronto Sunday night.
It’s been a banner season for York Region with the victory extending an unbeaten streak to 21 games – 18 regular season and three playoff championship encounters to set a record of going a complete season in the CSL without a loss.
Following a scoreless tie at 90 minutes, York Region went ahead at 110 minutes with forward Richard West’s thumping header from a right wing cross by Adrian Pena. With just four minutes remaining, Toronto Croatia tied the game at 116 minutes on a goal by Shawn Brown who drove the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
With a 1-1 tie after 120 minutes, the game went into penalty kicks with Shooters scoring all five, while Toronto Croatia found the net four times for a 5-4 York Region Shooters victory on penalty kicks..
Desmond Humphrey, Babjide Fatoba, Hector Mackie, Ricky Herron and Richard Edwards scored on the penalty kicks for York Region Shooters, while Pero Menalo, Hayden Fitzwilliams, David Velastegui and Daniel Niksic scored for Toronto Croatia.
“Teamwork throughout the entire season and again tonight gave us the success we were searching for, with the players continuing to play so well together game after game. We are very proud,“ said York Region head coach Darryl Gomez following the win.
York Region Shooters game roster: Emmanuelle Ameltonis (Goalkeeper), Adrian Ibanez (Goalkeeper), Ricky Herron (Defender), Fitzroy Christey (Defender) Justin Soscia (Defender) Larry Miller (Defender) Ryan Dummett (Defender) Richard Edwards (Midfielder),Mehdi Baratimahvar (Midfielder)Babjide Fatoba (Midfielder), Mario Orestano (Midfielder), Desmond Humphrey (Midfielder), Hector Mackie (Midfielder), Francisco Javier Perez (Midfielder), Oswald Adu (Forward), Adrian Pena (Forward), Richard West (Forward).
Head Coach: Darryl Gomez, Manager: John Pacione
Toronto Croatia game roster: Antonio Ilic (Goalkeeper), Faris Efendie (Goalkeeper), Josip Keran (Defender) Captain, Sven Arapovic (Defender), Halburto Harris (Defender), Ainsley Deer (Defender), Mykola Chachula (Midfielder), Hayden Fitizwilliams (Midfielder), Pero Menalo (Midfielder), David Alva (Midfielder), Shawn Brown (Midfielder), Roberto Galle (Midfielder), David Velastegui (Midfielder), Daniel Niksic (Midfielder), Anes Handanovic (Midfielder), Igor Krmpotic (Midfielder), Ante Zivkovic (Forward), Ivan Cutura (Forward).
Head Coach: Velimir Crljen, Manager: Ivan Kulis
The CSL Championship win by York Region Shooters was preceded by a 2-0 victory in the Second Division Championship final by Kingston FC reserves defeating last year’s winner, SC Waterloo reserves. Midfielder Simon Schmitke struck the opener for Kingston at 19 minutes and forward Mademba Ba made it 2-0 at the 55 minute mark.
The games ended the 2014 season in the Canadian Soccer League.
Marin Vucemilovic Grgic, a 27 year old forward with London City, took the Most Valuable Player award for the 2014 season at the Canadian Soccer League’s Annual Awards Banquet held at Toronto Saturday night. The Croatian-born striker repeated the league’s MVP award received in 2012 while playing for Toronto Croatia.
Vucemilovic also captured the Top Goalscorer Award in the CSL’s First Division having found the net 21 times in the regular season just ended.
Awards were handed out to team recipients in six categories in each of the First and Second divisions of the CSL and additionally, Marco Jaramillo took the Referee of the Year award, Phil Ionadi was presented the Harry Paul Gauss Memorial Award and Kingston FC was judged the most discipline-free-club for the Fair Play and Respect Award.
Kingston picked up most of the hardware, including the MVP Second Division trophy which went to the club’s Mademba Ba, a 26 year old striker who was also presented the Top Goalscorer Award in the Second Division, a total of 31 goals while playing for Kingston reserves. Kingston second string coach Thomas Moran received most votes for Coach of the Year in division two and the eastern Ontario club picked up their trophy for winning the CSL Second Division. York Region Shooters won the First Division.
The league wraps up its season with the CSL Championship Final between York Region Shooters and Toronto Croatia at Esther Shiner Stadium Sunday, a 4.15 pm kickoff, to be preceded at 1 pm by the Second Division Championship clash between Kingston FC B and SC Waterloo B.
Saturday’s awards:
CSL First Division
Most Valuable Player (MVP): Marin Vucemilovic-Grgic (London City)
Top Goalscorer: Marin Vucemilovic Grgic (London City)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Vladimir Vujasinovic (Burlington SC)
Defender of the Year: Josip Keran (Toronto Croatia) and Nikola Stanojevic (Burlington SC) tie
Rookie of the Year: Aleksander Stojiljkovic (SC Waterloo)
Coach of the Year: Darryl Gomez (York Region Shoooters)
CSL Second Division
Most Valuable Player (MVP): Mademba Ba (Kingston FC B)
Top Goalscorer: Mademba Ba (Kingston FC B)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Adrian Ibanez (York Region Shooters B)
Defender of the Year: Danilo Richards (Burlington SC B)
Rookie of the Year: Nikola Miokovic (SC Waterloo B)
York Region Shooters are looking to go from record breaking to brilliant when they take on Toronto Croatia in the CSL Championship Final this coming Sunday, October 26, a 4.15 kickoff.
Unbeaten in 20 games since kicking off the new season ln May, the Shooters have won 13 and tied five in an 18 game First Division regular season, followed by a quarterfinals playoff victory, and a semifinal win to advance the team from just north of Toronto to the championship final.
Sunday’s match is being played at fan-friendly Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, but what takes place on the playing surface will be anything but friendly with both teams having a reputation for playing with passion and purpose that will be heightened by the importance of the fixture, the championship of Canada’s premier soccer league.
The ‘big game’ late in the afternoon, will follow morning games with teams from the talent-laden Canadian Futbol Academy and the CSL Second Division Championship Final between Kingston FC reserves and SC Waterloo reserves at 1 pm. While the Second Division championship is secondary to the main event, it will be no less exciting with the Kingston second string having captured the Second Division in the regular season just ended, and Waterloo reserves are defending champions, having won the Second Division championship at Niagara Falls in 2013.
Compared to their opponents, York Region Shooters has had limited success with the major trophies since becoming a member of the Canadian Soccer League following an acquisition of the original pro York Region Shooters team in 2002. The team has one championship to its credit, but became known as a near-miss team following a number of championship defeats, such as the memorable 1-0 heartbreaker loss to Brampton Hitmen on October 5, 2003 and going down 4-0 to Toronto Croatia on October 11, 2004.
Formed in 1956, Toronto Croatia on the other hand, is the elder statesman of the CSL with no less than nine championship victories since 1970.
Ihor Prokipchuk has plenty on his mind these days.
