March 27, 2016 League 1 Ontario--Vaughan's Ewart Signs With Pittsburgh Riverhounds (from League 1 Ontario website)

Vaughan's Ewart Signs With Pittsburgh Riverhounds
03/27/2016, 8:30pm EDT
By League1 Ontario staff

After turning 18 on March 22, Vaughan Azzurri and Canada U20 midfielder Duwayne Ewart has officially 
signed with USL Pro club Pittsburgh Riverhounds. 

"Pittsburgh understand the quality of Canadian players after having the likes of Canadian international 
Tyler Pasher and Miro Cabrilo," said Patrice Gheisar, head coach of the Vaughan U21 and assistant coach 
of the League1 side.

"Moreover their coach Mark Steffens has had 18 years experience coaching another USL Pro team and is more 
of a mentor. With Duwayne being so young, we felt like the coaching staff - with their beliefs, desires, 
need for that position, and mentorship they would provide - was the most important factor."

Ewart came to Vaughan Azzurri from a rival east-end club, and was a crucial part of the Vaughan senior 
men's program that won the Ontario Soccer League U21 Provincial Elite division, the prestigious Disney 
Soccer Showcase in Florida, and was a stalwart performer in the 2015 League1 Ontario season. 

"At the very beginning you could see he was used to playing with players his own age, and things were 
easier for him at that level," said Gheisar. "We put him at a level that was much harder in League1, 
where he was playing with and against older players. He had some learning curves at the beginning but 
he adjusted very quickly because of his natural tools and his ability to flourish in a high-level 
environment." 

"When we won the Disney showcase, he scored three goals in four games out of a midfield position and 
had every big college drooling at his feet because of the way he teased the opposition with moments 
of brilliance."

Ewart had a big decision to make between making the leap directly to professional levels, or continuing 
his studies and playing at the NCAA level. 

"We sent him down a little before Disney for a workout with Pittsburgh and they really liked him," 
explained Gheisar. "Then we went to Disney and we contemplated if the university route would be the 
best for him or moving directly to USL Pro. It's never easy for a young player to go to USL Pro, 
where the players are much older, experienced, physically strong and fit. This immediately vetoes 
Duwayne's athleticism, and now he'll need to win based on football skills."

"However, based on the feedback and interest from Pittsburgh and Duwayne's own desire, we felt going 
USL Pro immediately was the avenue for him to succeed."

A regular starter at the junior international level - Ewart was nominated for U17 player of the year 
and was a part of the U20 squad that completed a March 2016 camp in England, beating England U21s 
2-1 - Ewart also received technical advice and backing from the national program. 

"Duwayne is doing very well with the national program and we're obviously very proud that they 
continue to feature him," said Gheisar. 

"U20 coach Rob Gale has been really behind him and is one of the people that supported him when 
Pittsburgh needed further references so it's good to see Canada Soccer providing support for him 
to have a home to flourish and hopefully help the national team further in coming years." 

back to 2016 League 1 Ontario Men's index

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