The Toronto Star counters with a story on the late arrival of two area teenagers to practice. The article confirms that Canadian Youth Internationals AJ Gray and Stephen Lumley are "trying out" for Toronto FC. It appears that both young players may have decided to turn professional, as try outs for a professional team could disqualify these players from US Scholarship opportunities. Gabe Gala, another young player that scrimmaged with Toronto FC at the Soccer Centre in Vaughan earlier in the month, was not mentioned in the article.
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/186998
If Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star, honestly believes BMO Field will be capable of hosting World Cup matches, he is sadly mistaken. BMO Field will be perfect venue for MLS and Canadian Soccer, but it is by no means a "world class" venue capable of hosting World Cup games, even with the capacity expanded. Lets be honest here, BMO Field is a no frills equivalent of a smallish US College football stadium (there may even be high school facilities on par in the US). Any US World Cup bid will not include smaller soccer specific stadiums in my estimation. Modern NFL Stadiums will be the focus of the bid. One of the primary reasons USA 1994 was so successful was that all stadiums were already in place, as they would be again in 2018, cutting down on the capital expenditures related to hosting. A joint North American bid is a fascinating idea though.
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/186987
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4 comments:
i think the rules can get complicated, but trialing with a pro team does not necessarily forfeit college eligibility. competining in an official exhibition or reserve game probably does. and for students in college, trialing during the season and ? while in school might be a problem. would want to check with the experts before saying it would forfeit anything
Your very right, the rules with respect to the professional training are cloudy. At some point you would think that they will play in an official game for the team in order for Mo to assess their ability. I really hope these players understand the implications given the eligibility rules in both the NCAA & CIS here in Canada. Lets just hope they are being advised well.
There is a minimum size standard (which I believe is 45,000) for any World Cup Stadium. Therefore non of the SSS in the US or Canada would host a WC match anytime soon.
I like the idea of sharing the WC venues among two and possibly three countries, that is the NAFTA trio. Sure more venues are currently in-place in the US and Mexico, but Canada would have alot of time to get ready a couple of world class stadiums that could function as soccer stadiums, like the Olympic stadium? or what about the CFL (sorry I've done no research). The US used alot of football stadiums in 1994 and would do the same in 2018. Canada has an opportunity to promote soccer much more now with TFC and also with the U-20 WC this year. I wouldn't give Canada many games but including them commensurate with their ability and desire to be involved. I just think it would be natural for the three countries to start to think of themselves as sharing a common dream and to do a good job.
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