November 14, 2018 Canadian Premier League draft and their acquisition of League 1 Ontario (by Rocket Robin)
Wednesday November 14, 2018 My take on the Canadian Premier League's draft of U-Sports Draft by Rocket Robin I had to revise my early opinions of the CPL draft of U-Sports (Canadian Universities) three round draft (seven teams pick three players each equals 21 players chosen) with the CPL's avoiding mentioning anything about many of the selected players playing in League 1 Ontario in addition to their university teams. I had a rant about the reasons they might have not mentioned L1O...including that Kurt Larson had written the draft reports for six of the seven teams. Then today the CPL announced that it had 'acquired' L1O and now I feel obliged to rewrite it. CPL held an announced draw of U-Sports players that with special contracts will be allowed to play for CPL teams but still be eligible to play for their university teams without invalidating any scholarships or standing. I was pleased to see that six L1O players were selected over the three rounds including the first four players selected overall. I wouldn't even say that these are the 'best' players in L1O but in the overlap of L1O and university they are all among the best. In the interviews after the behind closed doors draft coach Bobby Smyrniotis even mentioned the link to L1O when discussing how he'd been tracking one of his choices. What I have done is provided links with the L1O teams these six players played for during 2018 (if possible) or 2017 if they weren't with the league in 2018. 1. Cavalry FC Gabriel Bitar (from Ottawa) a forward for Carleton University. I didn't see him play for OSUF (Ottawa South United Force) in 2018 but the most recent game of my own that I could find was on October 16, 2017 when OSUF came to the GTA to play Windsor. www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports17/17l1o161.htm 2. Valour FC Dylan Carreiro (from Winnipeg) a midfielder for York University. I did see him listed as a team official in a Vaughan Azzurri game in 2018 but the most recent game for me was the 2017 L1O Championship game when he was with Woodbridge Strikers against Oakville www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports17/17l1o294.htm Forge FC Jace Kotsopoulos (from Burlington) a forward for University of Guelph. This wasn't one of my game reports but a L1O report of him scoring a hattrick July 16th against Oakville. www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports18/18l1o143.htm York 9 FC Daniel Gogarty (from Scarborough) a defender for York University. He plays for L1O league champions Vaughan Azzurri (the common default team of York U players as Carmen Isacco is head coach of both York U and Vaughan Az—also he's now an assistant coach with York 9 FC! This was the May 5th game of Vaughan against Toronto Skillz. www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports18/18l1o042.htm York 9 FC Emmanuel Zambazis (from Toronto) a midfielder for York University. I had to drift way back to 2014 find a game I saw him in. He played for Vaughan Azzurri and my records show this game against Durham United. www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports14/14l1o018.htm Forge FC Marko Mandekic (from Kitchener) a midfielder for Univerity of Toronto. He played for TFC III in 2018 (I could find old game reports from 2016 when he played for the TFCA PDL team). This is the TFC III June 23 game against Pro Stars. www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports18/18l1o117.htm So today the stories suddenly change! The 'pro writers' who probably have never attended a L1O game were quoting the most famous of the L1O players who have moved on to higher leagues including Cyle Larin and Richie Laryea (both from Sigma FC), and Raheem Edwards, Mo Babouli, and Mark Anthony Kaye (all from TFCA) so they could show their readers the link to MLS. I expect there will be a lot more L1O players just waiting to make their way to CPL either who successfully attended the L1O trials spread across Canada or who have been pre-scouted by the league and are just waiting to be announced in the weeks to come. I don't know how much coverage the pros like John Molinaro and Neil Davidson will be able to provide to CPL as they are obliged to cover MLS and the national teams. I wonder how many CPL reports Kurt Lawson can write on his own. I expect to write about CPL next year hopefully with the league's blessing as I reserved my front row seats to York 9 FC. I expect to continue with my L1O coverage (I attended 55 L1O games last season). Rocket Robin robing@eol.ca twitter @RocketRobin01
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