October 4, 2019 League 1 Ontario--League1 Ontario Graduates Ready To Shine In Canadian Premier League Finals
(from League 1 Ontario website)
League1 Ontario Graduates Ready To Shine In Canadian Premier League Finals
10/04/2019, 12:45pm EDT
By Armen Bedakian (Contributor)
Among the many developmental pathways that make up the route to professional soccer,
no two players share quite the same story.
Whether they’re forged in the fires of academy football, or charge through the ranks
of professional reserve teams; whether they are discovered through open trials or university
drafts, or scouted from seemingly out of nowhere; whether with a bang on their debuts,
or with a slow simmer over a season, every single player has travelled their own road
to the pro ranks, and into the starting XI.
It’s why, as we approach the 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals (Leg 1 on Oct. 26
at Tim Hortons Field, Leg 2 on Nov. 2 at ATCO Field, Spruce Meadows) that those pathways
– and the stories they deliver – become even more charming in sentiment. It’s natural
to reflect upon the beginning of a journey as you reach your destination, after all.
Forge FC and Cavalry FC feature core groups of players from two distinct player development
pathways – Sigma FC of League1 Ontario, and the Calgary Foothills of the PDL.
In part one of this two-part series, we’ll examine the role that League1 Ontario
and Sigma FC played in providing Forge FC coach Bobby Smyrniotis with the kind of high-quality
talent needed to build his team, and also take a look at other L1O alumni who could play
a significant role in Finals 2019.
Sigma FC: Canada’s top talent incubator?
Tucked into the convenient meeting point between Ontario’s western core and the Greater Toronto Area,
Mississauga-based Sigma FC has been churning out young Canadian talent since being founded
by Constantine and Bobby Smyrniotis in 2005. When League1 Ontario was founded for its inaugural
2014 season, Sigma FC was a natural inclusion, and in the five seasons that followed, this team
has been a perennial mainstay near the top of the table.
While Sigma hasn’t won the League1 Ontario title, it does have a series of second, third,
and fourth-placed finishes to its credit, most recently finishing fifth in the 2019 regular season.
But, those results tell only half the story.
Sigma FC is one of the top talent incubators in the country; Canadian internationals such as Cyle Larin,
Richie Laryea, and Manjrekar James owe their career starts to Smyrniotis’ Sigma team. Larin and Laryea
were both standouts in League1 as well. And, for that part, much of Forge FC is built on the back
of that talent.
In total, 16 players on Forge’s current roster can point to playing time at Sigma FC, chief among
them being Kyle Bekker, Kwame Awuah, and Tristan Borges. The rest of the League1 alumni is made
up of goalkeepers Triston Henry, Luka Iacobellis and Quillan Roberts; defenders Jonathan Grant,
Monti Mohsen, Klaidi Cela, Oluwaseun Oyegunle, and Dominic Samuel; midfielders Giuliano Frano
and Justin Stoddart, and forwards Chris Nanco, Kadell Thomas, and Marcel Zajac.
This group of players, supplemented by international signings and another League1 Ontario standout
(we’ll get to him later), make up a Forge team that has dominated the Fall portion of the 2019
Canadian Premier League season. They score freely, pick up wins consistently, and have not lost
in a dozen straight matches in CPL action down this final stretch.
League1 Ontario standouts clash in Finals 2019
While most of the aforementioned Sigma FC alum will certainly be on display come Finals 2019,
they won’t be the only League1 Ontario graduates competing for silverware. Indeed, Forge owes
plenty of credit to former Oakville Blue Devils striker Anthony Novak, who has helmed their
front line for much of the season. Novak, who led League1 Ontario in scoring in 2018 with 18 goals,
has been a mainstay in Smyrniotis’ Forge side since breaking into the team, making the centre-forward
spot his own once Emery Welshman was transferred to Israel. With five goals under his belt in 2019,
Novak has made the transition to top-tier football wonderfully, coming off the back of a dominant
year in League1 Ontario – and having also faced a career crossroads where he considered hanging
up his cleats and joining the Canadian military. On the opposite end of the park, Malyk Hamilton
of Cavalry FC has been an important role player for Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s squad, and credits his
time at Toronto FC III in League1 Ontario for giving him a platform for succeeding at a young age.
42 players with League1 Ontario appearances are now signed to CPL contracts, including several
from the 2018 League1 All-Stars
League1 Ontario talent on display from coast-to-coast
Of course, while all eyes will be on Finals 2019 come the end of October, League1 Ontario talent
doesn’t start and end with these two CPL outfits. In total, 42 CPL players have some experience
playing for L1O clubs before making the jump.
Notable names on that list include HFX Wanderers FC’s Zela Langwa, Duran Lee, and Matthew Arnone,
Pacific FC’s Lukas MacNaughton, Valour’s Dylan Carreiro and Dylan Sacramento, and York9 FC’s
Ryan Telfer, Morey Doner, Joe Di Chiara, and Simon Adjei, among many others.
These talents came into the CPL out of L1O clubs such as Vaughan Azzurri, Woodbridge Strikers,
Alliance United, Kingston Clippers, Aurora FC, North Mississauga SC, and Unionville Milliken SC,
and brought with them the experience and professionalism needed to perform in CPL play.
As we approach the 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals, there will be plenty of League1 Ontario
talent on display, providing Ontario’s soccer community with a chance to celebrate a successful
season in this new and exciting sporting venture. Those celebrations include Leg 1 of Finals 2019
at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
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