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TORONTO — The Canadian Premier League is joining forces with U Sports to help funnel young talent to the fledgling men’s pro soccer league.

Student-athletes will be able to play with a CPL club, while preserving their eligibility, in the spring and summer before returning to U Sports competition. The student will be paid for his efforts after signing a CPL-U Sports developmental contract.

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A U Sports-specific player draft will take place Nov. 12 following the university men’s championship in Vancouver.

“It showcases our talent, our coaches, our programs,” U Sports CEO Graham Brown said of the new partnership. “I really believe it’s going to have an impact on young soccer players deciding to go to a Canadian university and play soccer as opposed to possibly heading south.

“And I’m not opposed to heading south. But I’m opposed to the young people who head south and they’re not really going to a comparable education as one of our institutions.”