Oakville Blue Devils Enter CPSL
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
The Oakville Soccer Club together with the Oakville based Premier Soccer Academy, has been instrumental in convincing the former Scarborough based Metro Lions franchise to relocate to the Oakville territory for the 2005 season. The use of the Oakville Blue Devils name, signifies the intent to provide top quality soccer on behalf of the Oakville community “The 1998 Blue Devils, coached by Phil Iafrati, became U19 National Champions, and the name seems a perfect fit for the first ever professional team to represent our town” commented Simon Pendlebury, the Club’s President, “this team builds on Oakville’s tradition and provides long awaited opportunities for the players that have proudly defended our colors over the years”.
In keeping with the Oakville tradition, Blue Devils head coach Duncan Wilde announced the signing of Igor Prostan, a fellow Oakville resident and a member of the original National Championship team of 1998, as the first Blue Devil of 2005. Following two years playing professionally in Europe, Igor returned to Canada and was a member of Wilde’s Toronto Lynx roster throughout the 2004 season. “Igor has great ability and creates goalscoring chances in every game he plays” said Wilde, “he was a little unfortunate with injuries last season, but appears to be back to full fitness. He will be a very positive role model for the kids to come and see play, right here in his own town”. Academy partners Billy Steele and Danny Stewart will be joining Duncan Wilde on the technical staff.
“This is great news and I can say that was a hope of mine that we bring this level of play here in Oakville”, outlined Phil Iafrati at the press conference. “In over 30 years of involvement with the Oakville Soccer Club, I can say that it has been a long time in the making but I am glad this will become reality in 2005. It will certainly inspire our players”.
The franchise owners intention is to form a working relationship and an affiliation with the Oakville Soccer Club in an effort to promote and showcase the game. With this in mind it was announced that all Oakville Soccer Club youth players are to be allowed free admission to all home games. There will also be opportunity for teams to participate as ball retrievers, which will include half time scrimmage games as part of the game day activities.
“This was a good opportunity for the Club to take an active role in facilitating the partnerships that move soccer forward in Oakville, in Ontario and in Canada” explained Jean Gandubert, the Club’s CAO, during the press conference, “We were able to find the proper role for everyone without having the Club, and our membership, being financially liable for the operations of the franchise. On the other hand this will help improve the overall soccer experience of our kids with these players being local role models and having them involved with our summer camps. A CPSL team in our community will also help us make our case for higher quality soccer facilities in Oakville.”
The complete 2005 schedule together with ticket information will be available shortly. Further information and player tryout details will also be available on the Oakville Soccer Club web site.
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