March 20, 2025...Rocket Robin's Guide to League1 Ontario (from League1 Ontario website)
20 March 2025
Rocket Robin’s Guide to League1 Ontario
We asked soccer hobbyist Robin Glover some key questions that would help introduce League1 Ontario to new soccer fans.
Rocket Robin with his notepad (photo credit Paul Hendren)
Anyone who has attended a League1 Ontario game may have, knowingly or otherwise, seen Rocket Robin Glover on the sideline
with his notepad and pen.
Rocket Robin has been recording week-by-week news, results, and standings in League1 Ontario since its formation in 2014,
but his archives go way back to 1988 with photos of North York Rockets programs from the days of the Canadian Soccer League.
With his affinity to North York Rockets, and the fact that the popular Rocket Robin Hood cartoons were drawn on the street
where his father used to work, Robin chose an alias that is now known across the province.
Rocket Robin’s digital Ontario soccer encyclopaedia is available to view online, and he has helped us explain what Pro-Am
soccer is all about heading into the 2025 campaign.
What do you remember from the inaugural League1 Ontario weekend?
I do brag about being at that first game. It was set up a bit different because 10 teams started in the league in 2014
and each team played once in that opening weekend, all being held at the Zanchin Automotive Soccer Centre.
The first game was between TFC Academy, and Vaughan Azzurri who have turned out to be the best men’s team over the years
with the most titles. There was about 500 people in attendance; the first goal was scored by Dylan Sacramento,
and Mateo Restrepo received a red card given out by Yusri Rudolf.
The important thing about those three is that they all transferred to the professional Canadian Premier League when that
was started in 2019. Bobby Smyrniotis also coached Sigma that weekend and went on to coach the most successful team in the CPL.
How is the league different today?
The competition has put the brakes on clubs buying their way to the top. In League1 Ontario they have the Premier,
Championship, League2 Division, and a U20 League. The new thing in the last few years is that new clubs are coming
in at a lower division.
Breaking the teams up from a single division to multiple tiers has made games a lot tighter, and there is also a promotion
and relegation factor.
One team that has come in and done well is Simcoe County Rovers – one of the last clubs to join before they split the teams
into the three divisions. They linked up with the youth club in their local city and attracted some of the league’s best
players by looking like a more professional outfit.
How have things changed for you on matchdays?
Over the years I would usually get to games an hour early, and I would ask for a printout copy of the lineups. But now
the league has an app for your cell phone which reveals the players, and links up with all the other games that these players
have featured in during the season.
When the game is on, I still like to take notes in my version of shorthand. Sometimes at the end of a game I would go up
to a scorer and ask for the person who assisted them if they had torn up the field in the process.
Rocket Robin with the Voyageurs Cup
What’s the attraction of League1 Ontario?
There is an attraction to play for clubs in this league because teams from higher competitions will come here looking for
new players.
Clubs recruit kids for their youth teams and there’s potential for them to move up and play for the League1 Ontario team as they
get older. Pushing rising stars to higher leagues will be a magnet for recruiting players, and some clubs also work with
universities to create pipelines to scholarships.
It’s good seeing that potential in players. For me, it’s fun to say, ‘I saw that guy as a teenager’ and he has since climbed
up to the national team.
Do you have some favourite memories?
I enjoy the ‘I was there moments’ – the playoff games and the cup finals. Twice I have witnessed the record of the youngest
player to score in League1 Ontario being broken, and both players have since played in Major League Soccer.
What excites you about the future?
League1 Ontario has surpassed the 10-year mark, and now that template is being used across other provinces in the country
in British Columbia, Québec and Alberta.
Unfortunately, I’ll be seeing a bit less this year because I will try to cover some Northern Super League games, but
I’m interested to see the promotion and relegation this year – how the promoted teams will raise their level or how those
who missed out have prepared for this season.
A new team that is coming in the Men’s Championship is York United Academy, who will attract players seeking a professional
career. They will schedule their home games on the same day as the CPL games, and it will be another way of showing
League1 Ontario to more soccer fans.
Published On: 20 March 2025
League1 Ontario staff
back to 2025 League1 Ontario menu
.
.