The CSL is changing, is what we said almost a decade ago on November 20, 2014. That was two days after the CSL’s Rookie of the Year Jonathan Osorio entered the field for Canada at 62 minutes in an international friendly against Panama, a game that ended in a scoreless tie at the Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City.
Osorio was impressive in that debut 2012 season with the CSL’s Toronto SC, scoring 11 goals in 17 appearances, the second highest in the league. He was then quickly invited by Toronto FC to join the MLS team’s Toronto FC Academy.
The Toronto-born midfielder of Colombian ancestry made his debut in the Toronto FC first team on March 9, 2013 and gained his first international cap on May 23, 2013. Osorio earned his first call up to the Canadian senior team for a friendly the following week against Costa Rica.
Osorio was one of 40 CSL players to play internationally, mostly in national youth teams during a period when developing players was a desire and an overriding feature of many CSL clubs. During the period up to 2015 Toronto Croatia, Kingston FC, York Region Shooters and SC Waterloo put the strongest emphasis on developing players. During that time York Region hired Bob De Klerk, a former player, manager and coach for 10 years with the Ajax youth system before moving to North America in 2011 when he joined Toronto FC as first assistant coach.
The player development attitude paid big dividends for the Shooters when the club won the CSL Championship in 2014 and 2017 and the Second Division title with the reserve team in 2016. The First Division side was undefeated in the 1914 season, only the third time the historic achievement has occurred in the CSL.
Developing local players has faded somewhat as CSL teams move to importing players mostly from Europe, a change that brought increasing pace with the greater skills and a more attractive game for the fans.
But is there change in the works yet again ? As more players arrive from elsewhere are we paying enough attention to the development of local players ? We’ll explore that for answers in the days ahead, a heads-up as we move toward a new season.