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League1 Ontario general news thread


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Before L1O they played in the CSL and OSL, so I think it is far fetched that there would ever have been a scenario in which there was no elite GTA-centred league of some description for them to play in. Sigma clearly also do a good job on player development for the pro level. I think the jury is still very much out on what the rest of L1O is achieving at this point.

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41 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Before L1O they played in the CSL and OSL, so I think it is far fetched that there would ever have been a scenario in which there was no elite GTA-centred league of some description for them to play in. Sigma clearly also do a good job on player development for the pro level. I think the jury is still very much out on what the rest of L1O is achieving at this point.

I don't think the CSL is a good example of a league that could've filled the void without League 1 Ontario. The quality and credibility of that league had been on a steady decline for a while when League 1 Ontario showed up.

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1 hour ago, shermanator said:

Adonijah Reid signing a GA contract with MLS is a pretty big moment for the league, IMO.

Very nice! I hadn't seen that thread yet, or heard this news. I'm happy to see his name back in the mix and great to already see a non-MLS linked player get a GA Canada contract and I believe, become a domestic player league wide.

The article I linked to also mentioned a handful of Vaughan Azzuri players on the men's side, even if some of them (Marcus Godinho with TFC and Duwayne Ewart with Whitecaps) had been in MLS systems at some point too, it's still showing that the league at least can give these guys more opportunities to stay in the picture. I'm not sure if the other guys from Vaughan have had MLS ties in the past (Dayonn Harris, Kamal Miller, and Dayne St. Clair).

Not bad, and this is only after 3 seasons! Come on KW, get over to L1O and grow the league more please!

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So League1 Ontario published a release of all the players that have played in their league and gone pro since forming in 2014. 53 in total - 46 men, 7 women. Some players such as Larin, Buchanan and Lawrence were only in League1 Ontario for a little bit while playing college but I think this list shows that the league is doing what it was intended to do - giving players a place to develop and move on to the professional ranks (whatever that level may be)

Release: http://www.league1ontario.com/news_article/show/741002?referrer_id=2309049

The List: http://www.ontariosoccer.net/images/publications/2017/About/Pro_List_-_L1O.pdf

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9. 1. 2017 at 11:51 PM, shermanator said:

So League1 Ontario published a release of all the players that have played in their league and gone pro since forming in 2014. 53 in total - 46 men, 7 women. Some players such as Larin, Buchanan and Lawrence were only in League1 Ontario for a little bit while playing college but I think this list shows that the league is doing what it was intended to do - giving players a place to develop and move on to the professional ranks (whatever that level may be)

Release: http://www.league1ontario.com/news_article/show/741002?referrer_id=2309049

The List: http://www.ontariosoccer.net/images/publications/2017/About/Pro_List_-_L1O.pdf

Some of those players are no longer with the clubs listed, or with different clubs. It is also Chris Suta, not Chris Zuta.  He was also just released by his club in Finland. Manuel Aparacio (SC Ordenes, Argentina)  is wrong.  The club plays in Spain.

That is really not the point though.  Good to see a few players making the jump to a more professional environment.

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  • 3 weeks later...
7 hours ago, masster said:

Were all of the Ontario teams not supposed to be out of the PDL and moved into League 1 Ontario this year? Is there a reason KW United is still in PDL? Thanks

 

I suspect a mention of possible legal action over it would have made the OSA back off. Beyond that, the Thunder Bay Chill were never going to be involved with L1O. It only applied to the three southern Ontario teams.

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I read that the new Ottawa South United side will be playing in at the Beckwith Soccer Complex near Carleton Place.  

I grew up not for from Carleton Place, and I cannot believe that a League 1 team will be playing near the town.

http://www.arenamaps.com/arenas/4982.htm

http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/soccer/local-sports-ottawa-soccer-gets-a-big-boost

Edited by Toje
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14 hours ago, Toje said:

I read that the new Ottawa South United side will be playing in at the Beckwith Soccer Complex near Carleton Place.  

I grew up not for from Carleton Place, and I cannot believe that a League 1 team will be playing near the town.

http://www.arenamaps.com/arenas/4982.htm

http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/soccer/local-sports-ottawa-soccer-gets-a-big-boost

Oh man, I remember reffing there a few times when I lived in Ottawa.

I hope for their sake they're not planning on getting any fans, because it's out in the middle of nowhere.

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16 hours ago, Toje said:

I read that the new Ottawa South United side will be playing in at the Beckwith Soccer Complex near Carleton Place.  

I grew up not for from Carleton Place, and I cannot believe that a League 1 team will be playing near the town.

http://www.arenamaps.com/arenas/4982.htm

http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/soccer/local-sports-ottawa-soccer-gets-a-big-boost

Based on the article linked, that is where the women's team (which is not launching in 2017) will play. The men's team will play at other venues. From the article:

West Ottawa Soccer Club, which hasn’t yet determined its official league name, will be one of three new women’s teams, giving the league a dozen members. They will play their games at Beckwith Park in Carleton Place.

The Ottawa United team will play its home games at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility and MNP Park at Carleton University.

Edited by shermanator
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Oh yeah, I see my mistake.  It is a women's team playing at Beckwith.

I remember when people wouldn't drive out to Carp to watch the Ottawa Wizards play.  For me coming from Perth, getting to Carp was very easy, but I suppose not as easy for those coming from the other direction.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Recent article from League1 Ontario discussing the players that have moved from League1 Ontario to pro environments. They also talk about the League1 Ontario to NCAA pathway

http://www.league1ontario.com/news_article/show/762110?referrer_id=2309049

"For the most part, up to now, Canadians have been like gypsies in the world of football, which of course just means that we don’t really have a home," he said. 

"We still don’t have our own league but what we do have is some MLS teams and slowly, an emerging market in the U.S. It hasn’t been easy to open that market up to Canadian players, but we saw that change finally this year in the MLS with their being a liberalization of the rule regarding domestics as it relates to Canadians."

"We’ve seen the Generation Adidas program open up a Canadian-specific part, and a number of our players will now go into the SuperDrafts etc. on an even footing with their American counterparts. I think a lot of that comes down to looking ahead to the Canadian Professional League. I think that has caused MLS to put their foot to the pedal with some of these changes, and you can see they are now positioning to try and get the best players in Canada."

...

"Finland, second or third division in Sweden, or in the regional leagues in Germany - these routes are all examples that players look to take if they are trying to build the CV or are a little bit older," said Smyrniotis. 

"If you can make a decent bit of euro per month and make an impression that you can bring back, there is some value. However, it’s quite tough. You are 23, 24, 25 and I think you do it for a couple years and see if you can move up, otherwise I think there are better career choices."

"USL is, for me, also a place for the player to get started off, do it for two years, and see if you can make the step up," he continued. 

"Having said that, we’ve had players start off on a relatively low salary in the USL that are now making pretty good USL salaries, even top end salaries, so they can keep on playing there. They are moving up the ladder.

"And then, of course, you have NASL, which offers deals somewhere between your typical USL or MLS contract deal. NASL hasn’t traditionally been the best market for Canadians though, because like the MLS they have regarded Canadians as part of the foreign player allotment, but this has just recently changed."

"And then, of course, you have NASL, which offers deals somewhere between your typical USL or MLS contract deal. NASL hasn’t traditionally been the best market for Canadians though, because like the MLS they have regarded Canadians as part of the foreign player allotment, but this has just recently changed."

"Whether Australia or Scotland I don’t think these places abroad are as much options anymore," concluded Isacco. "In my opinion, you’re really choosing to have an experience, a lifestyle, but you’re unlikely to make it pro."

"Well, you may make it pro and get paid a subsistence. You may make it further even, but it’s a tough life."

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I'm seeing a lot of youth soccer clubs with teams in League 1 Ontario which is a good thing because these clubs now have a setup where players that have started right from the very beginning like say U8 can still continue to play at the senior level with these clubs and possibly develop and for some make the step up to a possible pro career in other leagues eventually. However, saying all that, these league 1 teams that are youth club based need to find ways of supporting these players better financially giving these players some kind of wage. With my experience with being involved with youth club organizations and knowing people that are presently involved with youth clubs with League 1 teams more money can go into these League 1 teams but is not, instead money is being spent and big money I'm told with these youth clubs on meaningless staff positions within these organizations, it's not unusual for certain positions and individuals making really big salaries at these youth clubs while their League 1 teams are not properly funded financially. Money spent to pay even one staff members salary with their fancy job titles can go along way in paying coaches and players on some of these league 1 teams , the money is there to run proper league and teams in this kind of league that can go along way in developing players, however too often money is wasted on staff and crazy money at that on one or two individuals salaries that instead could go a long way in supporting their League 1 team. For the general soccer fan who has no connection to the inner workings of soccer at the  youth soccer level ,  if they had a glimpse of how thinks operated it would open their eyes on why a country that has so many kids playing soccer and has had so many kids playing soccer for so many years now ,  is still not producing enough quality soccer players, in the end the money that is wasted is scandalous at times.

Edited by 1996
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14 minutes ago, 1996 said:

...For the general soccer fan who has no connection to the inner workings of soccer the youth soccer level if they had a glimpse of how thinks operated it would open their eyes on why a country that has so many kids playing soccer and has had so many kids playing soccer for so many years now is still not producing enough quality soccer players, in the end the money that is wasted is scandalous at times.

It definitely leaves you wondering whether ethnic clubs like Toronto Italia were doing a better job developing elite youth players back in the 70s and 80s, not because of the ethnic angle so much but because they were a lot more serious about their first team and were focussed on identifying and developing quality at youth level to help their adult senior team down the road rather than going for quantity in a pay-to-play format to generate player registration revenues.

Edited by BringBackTheBlizzard
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37 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

It definitely leaves you wondering whether ethnic clubs like Toronto Italia were doing a better job developing elite youth players back in the 70s and 80s, not because of the ethnic angle so much but because they were a lot more serious about their first team and were focussed on identifying and developing quality at youth level to help their adult senior team down the road rather than going for quantity in a pay-to-play format to generate player registration revenues.

You're theory generally makes sense but looking back at the 86 roster there is not a single player who came from an ethnic club.

The was however a surprisingly large number of players from Alberta. Not that it means anything at all in current context, it just struck me as interesting. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

An article about more players recently signing pro contracts from L1O, including one TFC III player getting a pro contract to play for TFC III and TFC II. I think he would probably be the first player being paid to play in L1O, which is a great step for the league, even if it's for TFC (who could have flipped that switch whenever they want to). One thing the article below seems to get wrong, is that Tenhults IF appears to be in the 4th tier, not 2nd tier, in Sweden. The name of the league is in fact "2nd Division", but it's the 4th tier, so the team isn't looking for promotion to the top flight.

http://www.league1ontario.com/news_article/show/768710?referrer_id=2309049

Plus here is an article from not too long ago about Niba MacDonald getting a pro contract.

http://www.league1ontario.com/news_article/show/762698?referrer_id=2309049

The first article says the count is now up to 64 players that have played in L1O and then later signed pro contracts. Fantastic for such a short period of time!

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On 3/5/2017 at 9:30 AM, Alex D said:

u're theory generally makes sense but looking back at the 86 roster there is not a single player who came from an ethnic club.

In the seventies when a lot of these players played their youth soccer most of the youth Clubs in the Toronto area were ethnic based if you include the Scottish teams as ethnic as well I remember when Branko Segota and I were the only non Italians on a youth team. The NSL minor league teams used to win the Dallas tournament on a regular basis. Till the TFC academy came along Canadian teams were lucky to get a draw in that tournament.

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