Posted by

Aaron Nielsen ,

December 21, 2016 Email

Aaron Nielsen



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With Toronto FC’s recent success, it has taken some of the attention away from the domestic game in Canada. With all the talk of the Canadian Premier League, the Canadian soccer pyramid is as important as ever. As mentioned in my League One Ontario recap, 2016 saw a lot of familiar faces and clubs win trophies across the country, although there were a few new names that should be considered when following the game domestically and to keep an eye on with the Canadian Premier League becoming more of realistic venture. The first thing that stands out regarding Canadian Soccer in 2016 is the success in Alberta, and this giving us more hope as they should also be involved with important clubs on the CanPL landscape. The first club that comes to mind is FC Edmonton, who have become one of the top clubs in the country in terms of developing players. FC Edmonton also had their most successful season in NASL reaching the semi-finals before losing the game to Indy Eleven. Unfortunately, this might come to an end with all the talk of NASL folding and the current FC Edmonton ownership not wanting to move to USL or even be a part of Canadian Premier League discussion. An Edmonton side also won the Senior Men's Championship, with Edmonton Scottish SC, who play in the ever improving Major Alberta Soccer League, won the Canadian Challenge Cup. The city also completed their 2016 season of success with local University Alberta winning the 2016 CIS/USports Championship, beating Quebec side UQAM in the finals. University of Alberta were led by former FC Edmonton player Ajeej Sakaria, who had 19 goals and six assists during the 16 game regular season schedule where Alberta went 13-1-2. Other key contributors were another former FC Edmonton player Bruno Zebie and senior defender Niko Saler. Not to be outdone, Calgary also had a successful 2016 Soccer season highlighted by their PDL side Calgary Foothills. The Foothills would win the Northwest Conference with a 8-3-3 record and advance to the PDL Championship beating Seattle Sounders, Golden State, FC Tuscon and Ocean City before losing the final game to the Michigan Bucks 3-2. Calgary's key player was Dominic Russo. The Calgary native would be named the top prospect in PDL and would also be named to the CIS 1st Canadian Team well playing with University of Calgary. Combined, Russo played 31 games scoring 24 goals and adding 12 assists and should get looks this winter about signing a professional contract for next season. Traditional powers in Ontario continued their dominance, although clashes between Vaughan's success in League One Ontario hurt York from winning another CIS Championship. York did make the Usports Championship tournament, beating UBC in the Consolation final after losing to Alberta in the first round. York's veteran Jonathan Lao was named the top player in CIS, while Dena Iezady and DeVante Walker completed their careers at York. The school also had an exciting crop of younger players highlighted by Cristian Cavallini, Eddie Lay and Milan Beader. Meanwhile, Humber College won another CCAA Championship. Humber won the championship quite easily, outscoring their opponents 13-0 in the Championship Tournament. Humber would beat another Alberta program in the final, Keyano College 2-0, who hosted the tournament which was a great story on its own as they are based on Fort McMurray, Alberta. Humber were led by Former TFC II player Marcos Nunes as well as Junior Hoilett’s brother Jaineil, who played his second season at the school. The most underrated soccer played in Canada is in the province of Quebec, although a few heads were turned with CS Mont-Royal Outremont beating Vaughan in the Inter-Provincial Cup. Quebec also made the finals of the Challenge Cup represented by Quebec City side Royal Select de Beauport, while Montreal school UQAM made it to the CIS USports Men's Final. Quebec has taken a step backwards with the Montreal Impact folding FC Montreal in USL, although the province has what I believe the best run provincial soccer association. Players such as Pierre-Rudolph Mayard, Frederico Moojen and Louis-Thomas Fortier should be some of the first names considered when the Canadian Premier League starts. One concern regarding soccer in Canada has been the absence of British Columbian clubs and school success. The Vancouver Whitecaps did make the U18 USSDA Championship game where they lost to FC Dallas in the final. This is a pretty big accomplishment as the USSDA includes all the top Academies in the US, including all the MLS Academies outside of Toronto FC. The U16 side also did well in the USSDA at that age group. One could argue the Whitecaps are dominating development in BC, which may be staggering the overall development in the province. With no sign of a BC version of L1O or PLSQ, a Canadian Premier League team in Victoria and/or Vancouver seems vital for BC to regain its role competing for the top province in the Men's game. It is slightly unfortunate that Toronto FC’s success has overshadowed other soccer positive stories in the country, although as with every year, there is great potential for the game in Canada and hundreds of soccer-based stories across the country that don't get the fair share of media that they deserve. The potential opportunities of a Canadian Premier League has put some of these stories more in the limelight and personally have increased the amount of effort I spend in evaluating Canadian talent. Highly successful grassroots soccer exists across the country. It is very Canadian and not primarily a product, as often reported, influenced from outside the country. The only major influence is that from the States because of MLS control of our soccer dollars and being our main option to play professionally. Hopefully a venture like the Canadian Premier League will allow us to regain control of the sport and create the pinnacle of the Canadian Soccer pyramid. Aaron Neilsen is a co-founder of Prospect XI (Prospect Eleven), a scouting network and online magazine dedicated to tracking/highlighting young players that refer to as "prospects" as well as their development pathways both within North America and worldwide. Follow PXI via www.prospectxi.com or on twitter @ProspectXI.