FC Edmonton always felt they had one of the best youth academies in the country, but were unable to confirm it until recently.

FC Edmonton sent their Under-16 and Under-18 teams to Toronto last week to compete in the Umbro Top Rated Invitational Soccer College Showcase.

The two teams also played an exhibition game against the youth academies of Toronto FC.

“This is the first time we’ve been away with the full group,” said Academy technical director Jeff Paulus. “It was great experience for the players getting them on the road, and for us, I think the benefit of taking players to the Umbro showcase was the number of university scouts that were there.”

The FC Edmonton academy was set up in 2012 to help develop local talent and create a feeder system for the professional club.

There have been a number of players who have come through the academy and made their professional debut with FC Edmonton.

“I think Jeff Paulus and his staff at the academy have done quite a fantastic job,” said FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller. “The academy is very well thought of in Canada and you can put them up against any of them that are in the MLS or NASL in Canada.”

The Under-18 team won all three games at the Umbro tournament before playing to a scoreless draw with TFC U-18 team . The Under-16 team drew all of their games in the tournament and also played the Toronto FC academy to a scoreless draw.

“This was definitely a litmus test for us,” Paulus said. “You have an idea of where you’re at and we’ve had some success here developing players for our first team.

“But, definitely, those two games (against TFC) was a benchmark to challenge ourselves against one of the best programs in Canada and perhaps North America.”

Dvandiest@postmedia.com

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