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HFX Wanderers FC took its first step toward building a roster on Thursday.

The new Canadian Premier League franchise held open trials at Dalhousie’s Wickwire Field, with 115 players on hand to audition.

“This is fantastic,” said Wanderers head coach Stephen Hart. “Quite a few of them are not local, they’ve come in just for this. It’s different.

“It just shows the draw of the opportunity to play professionally. All credit to everyone here; you never know until you try. They’ve come in and they’re doing their best.”

The trials attracted many of the top local players, as well as others from much farther away. Defender Eric Whelan flew all the way from Dublin to take part.

“I play in Ireland and there had been a bit of chat about it in the dressing room a while back,” Whelan said. “That’s how I first came into contact with it but then it popped up again on the internet and I thought ‘You know what, I’m going to give it a go. I’m going to come to Canada and give it a whack.’”

Whelan, 20, is studying accounting and financing at Dublin City University but found it difficult to balance his studies with the demands of playing professionally this past academic year. The new CPL caught his attention because it felt like a fresh way to go all in on his pro career.

“I like the idea of living in Canada and completely committing to football and forgetting everything else from home,” he said. “I was playing for a team in Donegal but I was living in Dublin. That’s a three-hour drive to and from training and I was doing that three times a week. It was mixing up my life too much and I couldn’t get a balance and enjoy the football. So now I’m just playing locally in Dublin but I want to get back into the pro fessional game.

“I have another year at Dublin City University if I want to continue on there. That’s the plan for now but if this came up I’d absolutely jump at it. I could always finish college when I’m older.”

Although Whelan travelled the farthest to attend the tryouts, many others are from right here in Nova Scotia. Players as young as 16 were eligible to attend, like Halifax native Sulimon Elomrani who is just old enough to chase the opportunity.

“My goal is to play for the team and become a professional soccer player,” said the Halifax Dunbrack Under-17 striker. “Everyone’s competing and going hard so you just have to be the best player out there. There’s pressure but I think you just need to do your thing. I feel like if I do that I’ll be OK.”

Like Elomrani’s enthusiasm for the chance to play for his home-town team, the new league as a whole provides that kind of opportunity on a national scale. With the exception of a few players who play for the Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps or Toronto FC of the MLS and Ottawa Fury of the United Soccer League, there are no other Canadian pro outlets for homegrown talent.

“The issue in Canadian soccer has always been, to a certain degree, that once young players get to 17 or 18 years old the dream dies because there’s not a pathway to the next level,” said CPL commissioner David Clanachan. “Unless you were fortunate enough that your family knew someone overseas or you were going on a scholarship to the States, there weren’t any opportunities. But this gives kids a chance to continue to fulfil that dream here at home.

“We’re seeing some great talent. I’ve been talking to (trials co-ordinator) Alex Bunbury and the coaches and I think the talent on the field is even surprising them. We’re seeing some really good players.”

There will be a second session at Dal on Friday but only 50 of the players will be invited back. Similar trials will follow in the CPL’s six other markets.

Like the Halifax session, the coaches of all of the league’s teams will be in attendance to scout the talent.

“People obviously like the opportunity to be seen by all of the coaches in the league. And the coaches are really on it,” Clanachan said. “They’re all taking notes and paying really close attention.

“There’s not a coach here who believes he’s going to fill his entire roster with the players here but they are absolutely looking for talent they could take to the next level. We need to start bringing people along and this is the first step.”

The league is expected to launch in the spring of 2019 so there is still plenty of time to form a complete lineup.

“This is just part of it,” Hart said. “We’ve still got to put the whole club structure together and all of that. We’re busy doing that and then, of course, the players and staff have to be put together so there’s quite a bit of work still to be done.”