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Top youth clubs in Canada for developing future professionals


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I came across the Clarkson Comets soccer club's website yesterday. Man was I impressed. If all the clubs in this country operated the same way, we would be in a great place soccer wise.

The last four years the Clarkson Sheridan Soccer Club has produced:

•Lucas Cavallini, Jonathan Osorio, Tristian Grant - U20 Canadian National Team.

•Lucas Cavallini, Jonathan Osorio, Tristian Grant and Joshua Portillo with Club Nacional de Football (our affiliated Club in Uruguay).

•Jaime Garcia is currently playing professional soccer in Spain (Club AD Colmenar Viejo).

•Matthew Stinson, Toronto FC.

•Russell Teibert, Vancouver Whitecaps.

•Josh Jannier, Colorado Rapids.

Their Technical Director (Juan Cruz Real) has strong qualifications:

Former Professional Player (Argentina)

Argentina / FIFA "A" License

Argentinean Soccer Coach Association (ATFA) - International Instructor

They have a relationship with Nacional de Montevideo in Uruguay. They've had teams go down to Uruguay/Argentina and play friendlies which has directly led to professional opportunities. (How many clubs in this country can say that). They also had a youth team from Nacional come to Canada to play.

They have a strong training/game ratio and belief in real development.

◦Children 10 to 12 years: 3 training session and 1 game

◦To 14 years: 4 training and 1 game

◦To 16 years: 5 training and 1 game

•Soccer sessions children between 4 and 9 years of age, focusing on the development of the fundamentals of soccer.

•A training programme customized for different stages of development and maturity.

Their website also does a great job of marketing the club and it's players/teams. This is something I feel pretty much every club outside of SAAC fails to do.

Can anyone from Ontario comment on the club? I was blown away by how progressive this club is. I've been on most club's websites in this country and haven't seen anything like this. I know all of these players didn't play with Clarkson their whole lives, but Clarkson has certianly seemed to have helped them move on to bigger and better.

Developing great players is still only half the battle in Canada. The other half is getting players an opportunity to play at a higher level. Clarkson seem to be finding success with both equally important areas.

The recent golden child of club development plans is of course Oakville SC. Ben Rycroft wrote an excellent article on them earlier this year. http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?1969-Oakville-stepping-forward. It's nice to have a club actually state a goal (we Canadians shy away from that, unlike Americans - ie the recent technical blueprint by Claudio Reyna). It will be interesting to see if they reach the success they are planning for.

The last club that comes to mind would be Calgary foothills in Alberta. They've been on the right track for a while. The only thing I see lacking with that club is a lack of opportunity for players to showcase their ability to reach higher levels.

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Clarkson-Sheridan is indeed doing some good things for their athletes. They've got quality coaching professionals in place, a soccer savvy BoD and they are utilizing their contacts in South America to expose their players to fantastic opportunities.

They are not alone....other clubs in Mississauga and throughout the Peel-Halton district (full disclosure: I am now Director of Senior Soccer for the district) are becoming more and more focused on providing exciting development opportunities for their players (opportunities that extend beyond trying to simply secure NCAA scholarships), which I believe is a very positive development. In fact, Positive things are happening throughout the GTA and the province of Ontario but it may not always be well communicated.

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Clarkson-Sheridan is indeed doing some good things for their athletes. They've got quality coaching professionals in place, a soccer savvy BoD and they are utilizing their contacts in South America to expose their players to fantastic opportunities.

They are not alone....other clubs in Mississauga and throughout the Peel-Halton district (full disclosure: I am now Director of Senior Soccer for the district) are becoming more and more focused on providing exciting development opportunities for their players (opportunities that extend beyond trying to simply secure NCAA scholarships), which I believe is a very positive development. In fact, Positive things are happening throughout the GTA and the province of Ontario but it may not always be well communicated.

speaking of postive news any more news on the new D3 league coming out soon??

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Clarkson-Sheridan is indeed doing some good things for their athletes. They've got quality coaching professionals in place, a soccer savvy BoD and they are utilizing their contacts in South America to expose their players to fantastic opportunities.

They are not alone....other clubs in Mississauga and throughout the Peel-Halton district (full disclosure: I am now Director of Senior Soccer for the district) are becoming more and more focused on providing exciting development opportunities for their players (opportunities that extend beyond trying to simply secure NCAA scholarships), which I believe is a very positive development. In fact, Positive things are happening throughout the GTA and the province of Ontario but it may not always be well communicated.

Congratulations on your appointment!

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Clarkson-Sheridan is indeed doing some good things for their athletes. They've got quality coaching professionals in place, a soccer savvy BoD and they are utilizing their contacts in South America to expose their players to fantastic opportunities.

They are not alone....other clubs in Mississauga and throughout the Peel-Halton district (full disclosure: I am now Director of Senior Soccer for the district) are becoming more and more focused on providing exciting development opportunities for their players (opportunities that extend beyond trying to simply secure NCAA scholarships), which I believe is a very positive development. In fact, Positive things are happening throughout the GTA and the province of Ontario but it may not always be well communicated.

Aside from having an affiliated club the way the Clarkson do, what other ways do you think clubs can provide development opportunities?

The thing I find so remarkable about SIGMA is each summer the players are guaranteed to be put in front of coaches from top European clubs as well as NCAA coaches at their annaul talent camp. The names they're able to bring over from Europe are remarkable. Most kids in Canada never get those type of chances.

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I know this tooting my own club's horn a bit, but WSA Winnipeg and the academy run by Eduardo Badescu has one of the best youth soccer development programs in the country. Coach Badescu has the UEFA Pro License, the highest level of coaching licensing in the world.

Several former academy players are making a dent at professional clubs and at the national level.

- Dylan Carreiro: Toronto FC Academy player and Canada Men's U17 player

- Ali Musse: Vancouver Whitecaps Residency player and Canada Men's U17 player

- Desiree Scott: Canada Women's National Team and Whitecaps Women player

- Alison Clarke: Canada Women's U-20 Team

- Amos Ganyea: WSA Winnipeg player and Canada Men's U-23 player pool

- Mujtaba Sharifi: WSA Winnipeg player and Canada Men's U-23 player pool

http://www.wsawinnipeg.com/index.php/club/front-office

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Brampton has an incredible club too, very deep.

My son plays at Cherry Beach and they are a young club with a lot of challenges (not as easy to find space in downtown Toronto as in Oakville/Mississauga/Brampton) but hopefully with some years there will be some pedigree there because the younger teams are deep, my son made the B team two years up and isn't even the best player in his age group (I am keeping him in his age group because I don't want him crunched by some kid with 40lbs on him)

Football has a bright future in Canada, mostly because we are an immigrant country so we are getting more people with a passion for the sport and that spreads through the kids to other kids in the schools.

Fingers crossed we will see Canada win any world cup in my lifetime!

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^Some might argue that if a kid can make a team two years above his age that the club isn't deep at all! :) I am glad you kept him back - playing 2 years up is too much until about age 14ish....and dependent on each individual kid.

I keep hearing about WSA Winnipeg, quite rightly, so I hope they can step up from PDL! How long has the club been around? 2 years?

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^Some might argue that if a kid can make a team two years above his age that the club isn't deep at all! :) I am glad you kept him back - playing 2 years up is too much until about age 14ish....and dependent on each individual kid.

I keep hearing about WSA Winnipeg, quite rightly, so I hope they can step up from PDL! How long has the club been around? 2 years?

Last year was their first year in the PDL. They have operated as a youth academy for years.

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Not making any judgement calls but if were putting some links together I figured I'd round up what I can find online from CSL clubs in one post (it's been said before but not every team seems to the best job with their site). Not trying to start any arguements, just trying to concisely get it all out there quickly.

A link on the Brampton page for a goalkeeping academy

http://www.abcofgoalkeeping.com/

The SC Toronto (sctoronto.ca)website is easily one of the more comprehensive, look under development, camps and academy.

The Serbian White Eagles (http://www.serbianwhiteeagles.ca/updates/ look under 'youth') have a bit of stuff on their free academy.

The St Catherine's site (http://www.romasoccer.com/new/) looks like it has a lot on it's side bar.

despite an 'academy' tab, all the York Region Shooters info (http://vaughanshooters.ca/) is on the front page (you have to squint a bit but theirs a decent amount of info on the second article).

Mississauga Eagles FC ( http://www.mississaugaeaglesfc.com/academy.html ) came in with a good academy so they have a pretty good amount of info on their site.

Capital City links to http://www.osu.ca/ , I'm pretty sure there's a lot of these links to affiliated programs so I'm not going to try and dig them up for every team and program unless they were properly linked.

Again I'm not making any judgement calls, just adding the csl links mostly at once instead instead of having them pop up one at a time.

edit: ohh yeah, this too might be useful http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22canadian%20academy%20of%20futbol%22&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDcQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmississaugaeaglesfc.com%2FPress%2520Release%2520-%2520CAF%2520Player%2520Development%2520Program%2520on%2520Track.doc&ei=p2EHT5aGEqnt0gG42bGwCg&usg=AFQjCNF_e-6V8OrPX7vFSsydK-G4C20CFQ&sig2=IzGBrkUyNrLcxWVSOxA8Nw&cad=rja - and it's a .doc CSL press release from a month ago

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speaking of postive news any more news on the new D3 league coming out soon??

things are moving forward. More information will be made available when there is something significant to announce. thanks for the interest.

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^Some might argue that if a kid can make a team two years above his age that the club isn't deep at all! :) I am glad you kept him back - playing 2 years up is too much until about age 14ish....and dependent on each individual kid.

I keep hearing about WSA Winnipeg, quite rightly, so I hope they can step up from PDL! How long has the club been around? 2 years?

Cherry Beach has only been around for a few years so the younger rep teams are deeper than the older. Last tournament of the year in Whitby they split his U7 team in two and both teams dominated every game of the tournament except the final game for the 'white' team where they still won but 1-0 as opposed to all the other scores with a GD of 3-4+

Brampton is SILLY deep, they will field 3 teams in every age group boys and girls and are STILL amazing, I wouldn't even want to see what a single team of Brampton's best would do! They were not at the tournament that CBSC dominated or it would have likely been a different story.

As for playing up, likely going to try 1 year up in 2013 for a year or two, he still practices with the team 2 years up from him as well as his team so he gets the training and challenge which has led to a lot more confidence on the field against kids his own age and nobody is trying to crunch him in a practice.

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Jamie Garcia played for Clarkson for half a season before he moved to Spain. It was arranged that he would go before he even joined Clarkson. Also, He played half a season with Erin Mills. Before that he was with Sigma for three seasons and several clubs before that... Seems like Clarkson shouldn't take credit for Garcia. And if they are, how many others are they taking credit for that they haven't developed? This is the problem with clubs, and I am speaking generally here, taking credit for players. Often times in Canada, it comes down to motivated parents, who move their kids often in order to find opportunities...

Very few clubs can honestly lay claim for developing young talent to the pro ranks. It's a collective effort, and this is a direct result of the amount of poaching, recruiting and movement that goes on. The same reason why so many more are NOT developed....

Good for Clarkson for making an effort.

Another of their players, a goalie, has just gone to Portugal for a training period. More clubs need to be ambitious. So that is a good thing. Just wanted to raise the issue..

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pretty decent half article about York Region Shooters hooking up with the Scarborough National Malvern Soccer Club and mentions 'trials' in Portugal and Germany.

http://canadiansoccerleague.com/newsnet/templates/?a=463&z=5

YORK REGION SHOOTERS CONNECT WITH YOUTH SOCCER

The CSL’s York Region Shooters and the Scarborough National Malvern Soccer Club - a bright star in Canadian youth soccer over many years - has joined forces.

Malvern has an impressive history, including 10 Ontario championships in a club environment that produced players like Canadian internationals Dwayne De Rosario – MVP in Major League Soccer last year and defender Adrian Serioux, who first made his mark with the Toronto Lynx and went on to play with Millwall of the English League followed by Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas and Toronto FC. Jamo Welsh and Brad Park were others.

York Region Shooters have also struck up a working arrangement with the Mississauga Soccer Club of 4,000 registered players to also interface young players with professional soccer for further development. Like Malvern, the Mississauga Soccer Club has been in existence for more than 30 years and now has year-round programs using state-of the-art facilities including four artificial turf soccer fields.

The Shooters will work with both clubs in an effort to create a clear path to higher level soccer for promising players. There are four players in training with York Region now being prepared for a trip to Germany and Portugal where they will be on trial in the coming weeks.

More are expected to follow.

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  • 3 months later...

Also in addition, another one of their players, a central defender (CB) has recently returned from Portugal on a 2 week trial period. They offered him a contract, but from what I heard, he did not sign because it was a weak contract. He has been with Clarkson for 3 years is what I was informed, and what I am hearing, he looks like a promising kid, but i would only say so if i saw him play myself. Would Clarkson take credit for this one?

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It's very important for CSL teams to take notes from Clarkson-Sheridan on youth training. There is a lot of great untapped potential there. Partnerships with clubs abroad is also important, as they can lead to good exposure for your youth products, Clarkson-Sheridan are an example of this that it works.

Let's not also forget about Toronto FC Academy's new HQ being built at Downsview, this is pretty big actually and TFCA should have the best advantage out of all the other youth clubs due to this.

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FC Boisbriand, Quebec

Valerie Sanderson U17 National Team Captain

Samuel Piette, National, FC Metz, FC Dusseldorf

Samuel Leblanc, FC Metz

Montreal Impact U21

Philipppe Lincourt-Joseph

Jason Beaulieu

Samuel Dufort

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FC Boisbriand, Quebec

Valerie Sanderson U17 National Team Captain

Samuel Piette, National, FC Metz, FC Dusseldorf

Samuel Leblanc, FC Metz

Montreal Impact U21

Philipppe Lincourt-Joseph

Jason Beaulieu

Samuel Dufort

It's nice to have a poster on the board who can provide some insight into the Quebec club scene.

If only every province could get their own FC Metz type partnership. If Quebec can do it, why can't another province? And I don't mean that OSA - Everton b.s.

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Atletico Toronto (www.atleticotoronto.com) plays in the SAAC League and is definitely a strong youth development set up, I do not know what they do to get into OSA "sanctioned" tournaments (where they first caught my eye) as a private academy but the set up and organization based off of a little research seems top class. I have not seen much of their older squads but their younger athletes are deeply talented and the approach seems positive . They have graduated several players to TFC Academy and have players being tracked by teams in Holland and England

Its a pleasant surprise that our landscape is truly beginning to turn out clubs and academies with a clear vision of developing individuals

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