BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Sudbury Canadians soccer team is poised to strike a big goal for the communities of Northern Ontario and its women soccer players.
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Sudbury Canadians, if nothing changes, should find out by the second week of October whether or not they will be joining the professional United Soccer League. |
Following a six-game exhibition series with teams from the United Soccer League (USL) W-League, the Canadians have unanimous support from the Sudbury Regional Soccer Association to proceed with making Sudbury the fifth Canadian entry into the league. Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver already have established franchises and Edmonton was recently awarded a franchise.
The Canadians will now look for approval from the Ontario Soccer Association (OSA). The Canadians expect to have an announcement by around Oct. 16. From there, the Canadians move their bid onto the USL.
Canadian?s general manager Rino Boschetto sees the proceedings as a formality and expects the actual awarding of the new franchise within two months.
?I expect the official awarding will come in November in Florida,? said Boschetto.
The push for a team came after a series of strong showings by the Canadians in exhibitions games this past summer.
The club played six games, winning two and losing four. Despite the losing record, Canadians brass was impressed enough that this team could compete in the league.
?We used the exhibition games to see if we were ready or if we were over our head,? said Boschetto. ?Our first game we stunned the Toronto Inferno 5-1. We didn?t get blown out in any of the games we lost.?
Boschetto was encouraged by the team?s heart and willingness to compete against established clubs.
?The girls showed a willingness to take their losses and learn from them.?
The new club would play 16 regular season games, including eight home dates.
The new team will give an unbelievable opportunity for women soccer players in Northern Ontario.
?This gives our girls a chance to play at a high level. It?s the second highest level in North America next to pro,?
said Boschetto. ?Sudbury would become a centre for soccer in Northern Ontario.?
Boschetto sees the franchise having a tremendous impact on Sudbury and Northern Ontario.
?It gives our girls something to strive for they never had before. It will make our girls better players, playing against the best in North America. It gives our girls a chance to be scouted by colleges in the United States, so they
can get scholarships,? said Boschetto. ?It could be a big economic impact for Sudbury with teams coming to the town for games and staying here, spending money at our businesses.?
Canadians head coach Frank Malvaso knows the team will mean great things.
?It will allow all of our players and clubs in the North to measure our performance against the highest standard on the continent,? said Malvaso. ?The opportunity to see this level in our own back yard will directly help our coaches and players better understand what it takes to compete at this level. I don?t know that you can buy this type of training and exposure for our coaches and players.?
Besides the W-League team, the Canadians will also move forward with USL applications for USL Super Y teams in the Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 age divisions. These teams would serve as part of the Canadians farm system.
?These teams would, again be top calibre teams that would eventually feed our W-League team with high quality players,? said Boschetto.
The Canadians will be looking for committed players.
?Our players will have to have passion, skill, dedication and determination,? said Boschetto. ?It will be a full time,
year-round sport for these girls.?
