Eight teams, about 120 players aged 14 to 18, each played twice in front of coaches, scouts and others interested in seeing who could be in line for the lucrative soccer scholarships awarded by U.S. colleges, or who could be attracted to a Canadian university, or invited to trial for a top flight club in North America.
“This event is all about players,” said Phil Ionadi, one of the principal organizers, who believes there is now a large contingent of youth players in the region showing enough promise that with some additional player development could be destined for high level professional soccer. “They deserve to be seen and that’s why this is taking place,” he added.
At any given time in recent years as many as 100 players from Canada are playing professionally in other countries, mostly in Europe. In Canada’s game with Armenia at Cyprus on February 28, all of Canada’s players with the exception of Toronto FC’s Julian de Guzman, were based outside North America.
Andrew Pilkington, a director with Brantford Galaxy, a club that has both brought players from Europe to strengthen the Galaxy professional side, but has also in recent times created a strong local movement in that community to develop young players, spoke favourably of the all-day event. The Galaxy organization believes exposure of young talent playing in front of the right people, is necessary to go hand in hand with the developmental work being done by clubs and academies in general.. “This is very good and there is a need for more of this,” he said.
A Brantford Galaxy Youth Club standout midfielder, Patryk Misik, 17, has already attracted interest from the First Division in Poland.
While most of the visiting coaches took in games at the main Hershey SportZone building, teams were also playing at the Hershey Dome nearby. One who covered all the teams was David Hesch, an associate coach at the University of Buffalo and he came up with a list of seven players of interest. “There’s good money available for scholarships and we’re certainly interested in some of the players today,” he said, while mentioning he was particularly impressed by SC Toronto and Mississauga Eagles FC.
Hesch explained that defender Shane Satar of SC Toronto is already heading for a scholarship at the University of Buffalo.
Anxious parents were also part of the scene, including Nino Petrolo, whose son Anthony, 17, is a forward with York Region Shooters, and Angus Crawford of Etobicoke, whose son, Jack, is a tall 15 year old centre back and one of the youngest players at the competition playing for Mississauga Eagles. Jack Crawford is on his way to the academy of Dinamo Zagreb next month, one of the top clubs in Croatia – and the world.
Petrolo believes Canada is not short of technical resources to assist in the development of the many promising young players now coming through the system. “There are a good number of highly rated former players and coaches from the world’s top leagues now living in the GTA to assist those already doing this work, so Canadian soccer should do well in the future, “ he said.
The youngest player at the showcase could well be striker Dante Brown of Mississauga Eagles FC who scored in his team’s 5-0 defeat of the York Region Shooters White team. While diminutive at 14 and playing against taller 18 year-olds, Brown was philosophical about any disadvantage, saying “It’s a little intimidating sometimes, but I still try to get on with scoring goals.”
One former Canadian national team player who played top soccer in North America before being attracted to clubs in Europe, was Woodbridge, Ontario-born defender Marco Reda. He said he was pleased with the skills of many youth players at the showcase. “It’s great when these young players are recognized and this event provides that opportunity,” said Reda, who is now a coach with the CSL’s SC Toronto and on staff with Power Soccer Academy.
Duncan Wilde of the Toronto Lynx organization with a team in the showcase, had similar sentiments. Wilde, who coached the 2005 CPSL champions Oakville Blue Devils and today has the No. 2 youth team in the North American USL Super-20 League under his wing (Columbus Crew is No. 1). was accompanied by the highly regarded long-time assistant coach, Billy Steele, a former professional in the UK.
Toronto FC were represented by recently appointed youth academy director Dutch-born Thomas Rongen, an MLS Cup winning coach who may be best known in wider scope for leading the forever defeated island nation of American Samoa to its first ever FIFA international victory. He was accompanied by TFC Academy coach Danny Dichio, a former professional in the English Premier League and Serie A in Italy and Jim Brennan, one of the heroes of that memorable CONCACAF Gold Cup victory for Canada in 2000. Dichio liked what he saw in the SC Toronto side.
The outstanding theme that emerged from the CSL-staged event was the need for the exceptional players to be seen and recognized following the long period of growth in the number of promising youth players having emerged in Canadian soccer in recent years. It’s clear to most that more players are now benefiting from the player development programs available, but there are more young standouts that need to be seen.
The incidentals:
Brantford Galaxy 1, Mississauga Eagles FC 1
SC Waterloo 2, York Region Shooters (White) 1
SC Toronto 1, Brampton City Utd. 0
Toronto Lynx 3, York Region Shooters (Yellow) 0
Mississauga Eagles FC 5, York Region Shooters (White) 0
Brantford Galaxy 2, SC Waterloo 0
Brampton City Utd 1, Toronto Lynx 1
SC Toronto 3, York Region Shooters (Yellow) 0
