The Cumberland
United Soccer Club and the Capital United Soccer Club have
merged to become Ottawa TFC in partnership with the Toronto
FC Major League Soccer team.
Toronto
FC will support Ottawa TFC as a regional satellite club,
providing professional technical player and coaching development
at the youth level.
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Toronto
FC president Bill Manning and Ottawa TFC president
Terry Vida hold up an Ottawa FC jersey following
the launch of the new soccer club on Monday.
The club is an amalgamation of the former Cumberland
United Soccer Club and the Capital United Soccer
Club. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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Ottawa
TFC joins Windsor TFC and London TFC as exclusive youth
affiliate clubs of the Toronto club. Under the partnership,
Toronto FC and Ottawa TFC will work in collaboration to
enhance all technical programming, including coaching development,
sports science, methodology, curriculum devel- opment and
provide a direct pathway for the highest achieving athletes
to join the professional player pathway at TFC Academy.
The partnership
will include develop- ment programs for players, with TFC
coaches making multiple trips per year to Ottawa to provide
coaching instruction and technical training. Ottawa TFC
coaches will also make a number of trips per year to Toronto
FC's BMO Training Ground to observe and learn best practices
from TFC's staff.
Former
Cumberland United technical director and now Ottawa TFC
general manager Pavel Cancura says the partnership gives
area players a potential pathway to the MLS.
"It has
become a very real pathway for them,� says Cancura. "It
gives boith the opportunity and the responsibility that
we can look the kids in the eye even at the youngest ages
and say if you work hard enough and if you do the right
steps there's no barrier to keep you from actually fulfilling
your dreams.�
As for
the impact the partnership will have on area soccer players,
it will be minimal. The recreation program will see very
little if any change. While the academy program will benefit
from the combined resources of the former Cumberland and
Capital United soccer clubs and Toronto FC, the players
will have to go through the same tryout process for the
competitive teams as in the past.
News of
the merger comes on the heels of last week's announcement
that plans for a future dome at Millennium Park has entered
the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage.
The RFP
is expected to attract several proposals from the private
sector to build and operate the dome. Cumberland Ward Coun.
Stephen Blais, who has spearheaded the project, says construction
will likely take place in 2020.
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Orléans
Ward Coun. Matt Luloff addresses the crowd at
the launch for the Ottawa TFC soccer club as
Toronto FC president Bill Manning and Cumnberland
Ward Coun. Stephen Blais look on. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
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