The Canadian Premier League has announced that the second-ever CPL-U SPORTS Draft will take place following the U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championship, which takes place from November 7 to November 10 in Montreal, Quebec.

The unique partnership allows for drafted U SPORTS athletes to trial with Canadian Premier League clubs and potentially sign on with them through developmental contracts that won’t impact their U SPORTS eligibility. As a result, players like Jace Kotsopoulos and Peter Schaale were able to pick up professional minutes this year before heading back to their university educations (and respective U SPORTS teams).

The CPL-U SPORTS Draft is a key component to the CPL’s success. Our U SPORTS players had some great highlights this season, had an opportunity to play professionally and be part of a professional men’s soccer league that continues to create a pathway for our homegrown players to play in Canada. David Clanachan

2020 is shaping up to be another exciting draft, with prolific players like Charlie Waters (Cape Breton University) and Alex Zis (Guelph Gryphons) expected to go in the first round. In talks with Northern Tribune, Zis – who has eight goals and sixteen assists for the Gryphons in just thirteen appearances – stated that the CPL was a great addition for players like the 21-year-old midfielder.

In the inaugural season, U SPORTS athletes provided a big impact to the league: Easton Ongaro rose to the occasion for FC Edmonton in the fall season, recording a team-high ten goals for the Eddies. On the opposite end of the pitch, both Connor James and Christian Oxner became regular starting goalkeepers for their respective CPL clubs, too.

Like last year, it appears the CPL-U SPORTS draft will take place behind closed doors, with the league confirming that all draft-related announcements will be made public on November 11, 2019.

The Canadian Premier League has confirmed that it will be a snake draft, meaning teams get one pick each round in a predetermined order (likely the cumulative last-placed team to the first-placed team). The second round will then go through the opposite order. Teams are not allowed to trade their positions in the draft. Graduating seniors are not allowed to take place in the draft.

The league also mentioned that only seven clubs will be participating in the draft, which further implies than an eighth team for 2020 is looking less likely. That being said, Canadian Premier league commissioner David Clanachan is poised to talk about three potential expansion sites within the next month, with one of them looking likely to be Quebec City.

Source: Canadian Premier League