Milltown FC schedule now confirmed

[hamiltonfan]

BK, not to rain on the MTFC's parade but the CSL has some serious competition. I think it will be a tough first season, with some growing pains. Although some of the players sign have a decent resume there are only a few guys that have played at a senior CSL level. There's hand handful of squads with much stronger, larger, roster that have played together for a few years. Prove me wrong fellas! Clearly the group that has put this club together is well aware of the level of play, Coach Carbajal is a former CSL coach of the year winner.

I do agree with you long-term though. I can see this team being one of the league flag**** franchise. Home opener's on the 28th.

[VPjr]

^ I agree with hamiltonfan.

we have a talented group but they are generally young quite young. Young teams can be wildly entertaining one day and wildly frustrating the next.

Coach Carbajal and staff know they've got a lot of work to do. There is going to be a lot of competition in the league this year, even among the new teams.

[BugerKing]

^ I'm assuming the roster still has some filling out to do, but you're right from the short term perspective I might be getting carried away. That said, I think the playoffs is a reasonable goal. TFCA was respectable in their first year in the league, with a wider age range to choose from I don't see why Milltown can't do at least a little better than they did. The young team aspect was what I was trying to play up with the Arsenal comparison.

[VPjr]

Milltown FC is very proud to have two key members of our technical staff named to Valerio Gazzola's coaching staff with the U20 MNT.

Rafael Carbajal and Paolo Pacione have both been named and will be leaving this week for the camp in Holland. They will be back in time for our first home game on May 28

In their absence, Assistant coach and Reserve Team Head Coach Vladimir Klinovsky and Reserve Team Asst Coach Joey Iaccheo will handle the first and reserve team duties

here is the CSA PR to announce the camp:

Canadian Soccer Association • l’Association canadienne de soccer

Media Release • Communiqué

For Immediate Release / Pour diffusion immédiate -

For more information please contact:

Pour toutes autres informations, veuillez contacter :

Richard Scott - 613.237.4580 x237 / 613.818.0305

La version française est ci-dessous

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canada announces roster, matches for U-20 program

Canada's men's U-20 team has announced its roster for the upcoming camp in Netherlands. The 12-day camp runs 13-24 May in and around Alkmaar, Netherlands. Amongst the camp activities, Canada will play international friendly matches against Egypt and Japan. The camp will be run by newly-appointed U-20 head coach Valerio Gazzola.

“This camp will provide the staff an opportunity to evaluate the players,” said Gazzola. “This will be the first of several camps that we have. There will be a lot of games in this camp, so there will be a chance to see and evaluate everyone.”

Coach Gazzola has selected 21 players for this camp. There is a good mix of players arriving from North American and European-based clubs. A handful of players were unavailable because of injuries. The two international friendly matches are 18 May against Egypt and 20 May against Japan.

On 16 May, Canada will play a closed-door match against Cruz Azul (they will play three 30-minute periods). Following the international matches, Canada will play five 40-minute mini games on 22 and 24 May. Canada will play three games on the first day and two more on the second day of the mini tournament featuring club and international teams.

Canada is currently preparing for next year’s 2011 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship. Next year’s confederation championship will feature 12 teams from North America. The CONCACAF championship will serve as the qualification route for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2011.

CANADA

D- Augustin, Francesco | CAN / Académie Impact Montréal | Montréal, QC, CAN

F- Baker, Jerome | GER / Energie Cottbus (on loan from Vancouver Whitecaps FC ) | Toronto, ON, CAN

D- Chalk, James | FRA / Paris Saint-Germain | Toronto, ON, CAN

M- Connon, Liam | SCO / Ross County FC | Ajax, ON, CAN

F- Costouros, Joseph | POR / Leixões Sport Club | Edmonton, AB, CAN

D- Dinkota, Serge | CAN / Académie Impact Montréal | Ste-Foy, QC, CAN

M- Gage, Ethan | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Cochrane, AB, CAN

D- Henry, Doneil | CAN / Toronto FC Academy | Brampton, ON, CAN

M- Hoilett, Jaineil | GER / FSV Mainz'05 | Brampton, ON, CAN

M- Jones, Darren | USA / University of Western Michigan | Victoria, BC, CAN

F- Kelly, Liam | USA / Crossfire Premier Academy

M- Kliment, Andrew | CZE / FK Bohemians Praha | Winnipeg, MB, CAN

G- Latendresse-Lévesque, Julien | GER / Energie Cottbus (on loan from Vancouver Whitecaps FC ) | Chambly, QC, CAN

F- Maheu, Justin | Unattached / sans club | Gatineau, QC, CAN

D- Mauro, Gino | ITA / Derthona F.B.C. | Ajax, ON, CAN

D- Meftouh, Amine | CAN / Académie Impact Montréal | St-Laurent, QC, CAN

F- Smith, Jelani | USA / Florida Gulf Coast University | Mississauga, ON, CAN

G- Stillo, Roberto | ITA / Genoa CFC | Mississauga, ON, CAN

M- Stinson, Matthew | CAN / Toronto FC Academy | Toronto, ON, CAN

F- Sylla, Abdoulaye | FRA / FC Metz | Pierrefonds, QC, CAN

M- Teibert, Russell | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Niagara Falls, ON, CAN

Head Coach / Entraîneur-chef : Valerio Gazzola

Assistant Coach / Entraîneur adjoint : Michael Findlay

Assistant Coach / Entraîneur adjoint : Carmine Isacco

Goalkeeper Coach / Entraîneur des gardiens : Raphael Carbajal

Strength Coach / Entraîneur de la force et du conditionnement : Paolo Pacione

Manager / Gérant : Les Meszaros

Video Cooridnator / Coordonnateur vidéo : Adrian Honisch

Doctor / Docteur : Dr. John Philpott

Athletic Therapist / Thérapeute athlétique : David Blatz

[BugerKing]

That's a great news for Milltown FC. Anymore signings in the works? Must be pretty exciting times, first games less than a week away. Nice way for the players to start off too with a trip Montreal to play on a pro ground like that. One slight irony on the U20 camp, there's no CSL representation among the players. If I recall correctly past U20 teams have included a number of CSL players.

[VPjr]

I think we'll see more CSL players involved in the U20 program in the future. the league will become a source of talent for our national team but it will take some time.

[VPjr]

Milltown FC announces the rest of its roster ahead of 1st ever CSL match on Saturday

http://www.milltownfc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90&catid=37&Itemid=62

[VPjr]

Milltown FC plays its first match on Saturday.

for those of you interested in following the action, you can follow the game action via Twitter.

Just go on Twitter, follow @MillTownFC and we'll keep you posted at a pretty regular clip

[BugerKing]

^ Looking forward to it. Are any of Milltown FC's matches going to air on Rogers?

[JamboAl]

Congrats Dino for the excellent draw at montreal Impact Academy. 1 pt on the road to start the season can't be bad at all. I'm hoping to watch Milltown next month against Toronto Croatia. Hopefully, I can find the ground.

[VPjr]

Milltown FC scarves now available.

our online credit card processing isn't working perfectly yet (almost debugged but not 100% yet) so if you are interested in purchasing one, just PM me and leave your phone # and I'll call you to take your payment info.

www.milltownfc.com

[Guest Clemenza]

I was just wondering how the preparations for opening night are going? I am probably going to attend the opener with a buddy of mine and hope that alot of other V's will be going too!. VPjr how are the ticket sales going and what kind of things can we expect on opening night? I wish Milltown FC great success on and off the field and am looking forward to seeing live soccer again without having to go to downtown Toronto. Forza Milltown!!

[VPjr]

^ season pass sales are on pace. We only sell individual tickets on game day presently so we'll only know how busy the we'll be tomorrow but the buzz is good and I have a feeling we may have to make use of at least one of our standing room only zones.

We're not going crazy with elaborate plans for the opener. In many ways, this match will serve as "live dry run" from which we can learn alot and add a few extra wrinkles to our game day presentation each home match.

We'll have good soccer, good food for sale, a special guest PA Announcer for the player introductions, a couple of raffle draws (one for people who bought tickets on the day of the game, the other for season pass holders) and hopefully a good atmosphere. We will have Milltown FC scarves for sale at the ticket tent next to the entry gate so hopefully we'll start a similar tradition to TFC and have our fans wearing their scarves proudly on game days.

In future weeks, we'll incrementally add a few extra game day presentation features. We need to walk before we run.

Thanks for your support. Please do introduce yourself to me tomorrow.

[Guest Clemenza]

Looking forward to the game and I will introduce myself when I arrive. Was wondering where we purchase the tickets at the school as I am sure there is no box office. I have never been to the school and am not familiar with the area. It looks bright sunny and dry today so we have perfect weather for soccer!! Hope many of the V's will come out to the game tonight and support Milltown and the effort the VPjr. and his crew have made in presenting this new expansion CSL Club. I appreaciate the professional manner in which you run the team. See ya tonight!!!!!

[JamboAl]

VPjr: I'm thinking of heading to Centennial to watch the Milltown game on Sunday evening. Do you think there are going to be any issues with the game seeing how things have gone up there with the pitch since the start of the season. Cheers.

[VPjr]

^ Hi JumboAl

it appears that the repairs to the turf at Centennial have been completed. Tor Croatia played at Centennial last weekend.

Look forward to seeing you Sunday night.

[JamboAl]

Thanks Dino. I'll introduce myself to you (I'll try and wear my Vs scarf or t-shirt) if I see you.

[VPjr]

Milltown FC has announced a Special Canada Day Weekend Promotion for this Friday's home game vs. York Region Shooters.

This is a big game, #1 (Shooters) vs #2 (Milltown).

Hopefully some local V's are free this weekend and will come up to Milton to take advantage of this great opportunity to watch excellent live soccer at a great value.

See flyer attached

If you cant read the attachment well, check out this link: http://www.milltownfc.com/documents/CanadaDay.htm

[Guest Ed]

Looks like you guys are doing a standup job with this club!

[VPjr]

we're doing our best Ed. thanks for the kind words

[Soccerpro]

VPjr has the CSl taken some big steps forward this year? Is fan support and the level of play improving? Is there a real opportuntiy for this league to finally make a bit of a leap forward? It seems from the talk on this board, the CSL is progressing a bit this year.

[VPjr]

^ The league is very good this season, especially on the field of play. Even the bottom teams in the league have good talent. Anyone can beat anyone on any given night, making every game night very entertaining.

Fan Support is excellent for some squads (Brantford and Hamilton are drawing very nice crowds). We're doing ok at the gate, but we would like to do better and we'll keep plugging away at it. Some teams struggle to draw but have solid plans in place to reverse that in the short to medium term.

What i am most excited about is how many teams are using good young talent in their starting lineups this year. To me, this is the future of the league and what Canadian soccer needs to take a big leap forward. I am very confident in stating that the CSL WILL become a very important player in any future success enjoyed by Canada's national teams. As the league progresses, more and more top young players will be coming through our league. Look at TFC-A and Impact Academy. Look at our team (average age last night was 21 years of age, with 7 of our 11 starters being Canadians aged 21 or younger, inlcuding found 18 year olds)

I know I am biased because I now have an ownership position in a club in the league but this league really needs the support of the V's and the soocer community in general...real, tangible support. no league is perfect but people really need to wrap their head around how important this league is, especially for young Ontarians and Quebecers who have the potential to play pro soccer and maybe one day represent Canada at the youth or senior level.

Many of our young players make the jump overseas before they are really ready and we've seen too many crash and burn. The CSL is the ideal intermediate pro league where young players can test themselves week in, week out against really good competition.

[SR]

VPjr,

Any players that you have seen so far this year who you feel can/should make the jump to MLS?

[Soccerpro]

VPjr, I'm curious as well if you think some of these players are good enough to be playing at a USL or MLS level either now or in the future?

[VPjr]

SR and Soccerpro

yes, I absolutely believe that there are players in the CSL that should be either in USL, MLS or overseas.

There is a tremendous amount of young talent in the league. Every team we've played thus far have at least 1 player who has "next level" talent.

I sincerely believe that there are numerous players in CSL who could quite easily play in USSF Division 1 and at least a dozen (or more) who could walk into the MLS right now and earn a contract if given a fair chance.

On our own team, there are players who could/should be playing up at least 1 level sooner or later.

I urge you to get out and watch some CSL matches live. You will be pleasantly surprised by how high the quality of soccer is for the most part. From a pure soccer entertainment standpoint, I would put our league up against USL and MLS every day of the week. We may not have all the bells and whistles you might see at a TFC game but the 90 minutes of soccer are definitely worth the money.

Furthermore, by supporting the CSL, you are also helping sustain the level of pro soccer that will help create a much deeper pool of Canadian talent that will, over time, help feed our various MNTs. We all know that our biggest problem in Canadian soccer is the lack of pathway from youth soccer to the pro game. We also know that we can't continue to rely on the NCAA system to be a pathway for our best talent. We need our own solution and 5 or 6 fully professional teams playing in USL/NASL and MLS simply wont cut it, even if they have their own academies. We need another level of pro soccer, below USL/NASL and MLS that will provide professional development to those top young players who are either not ready to make the leap to full time professional soccer or not able to go overseas. Fleeing overseas should really only be the pathway for the top 1% of elite young players. Too often, our kids go overseas, grabbing the first opportunity offered to them, with no guarantee that they will actually play much or that those clubs will actually invest much in their development.

I could go on and on but it gets boring for everyone to read the same old arguments. I will just conclude by asking people who are in Southern Ontario and who are curious about the CSL to go and check out a game. the tickets are reasonable, as are concessions and parking is usually free. You have nothing to lose and you might just catch a really good 90 minutes of soccer.