CSL TEAMS UPBEAT IN APPROACH TO NEW SEASON

PICTURE: Sierra Leone international goalkeeper John Trye (right) signs with Serbian White Eagles president Dragan (Doug) Bakoc before leaving on February 7 to join the West African team in training for an upcoming World Cup qualifier.

Despite the uncertainty of scheduling matches for the upcoming season due to the prevailing government regulations during the pandemic, team owners in the Canadian Soccer League are upbeat in their approach to the upcoming 2021 campaign. New signings, transfers, players called up by their national teams, a leading team is about to announce a new coach, are all part of the activity with three months to go to a mid-May kick-off-time, and however tentative that may be there is cautious optimism that a full season will be played in 2021.

Goalkeeper John Trye, who has played a major part in the success of Scarborough SC since joining that club in 2016, is newly signed by Serbian White Eagles just weeks after being called up by his Sierra Leone national team preparing for World Cup qualifiers. Trye,35, was first invited to the West African country’s national team in 2011 and last played in 2014, losing 3-1 to Congo in a Group D qualifier for the African Cup of Nations.

Trye’s professional career started in 2002 with FC Kallon, one of the top clubs in Sierra Leone’s National Premier League, then in 2007 with Alianza of San Salvador in El Salvador. In 2011 the 6ft 2in. Trye signed with Northern Virginia Royals of the U.S Premier Development League, then ASA Charge of the U.S.National Premier League before signing for Scarborough.

Fadi Salback continues to impress with Ukrainian club FC Podillya Khmelnytskyi  where the former Vorkuta FC forward is listed as the leading scorer at the half-way mark in the season. There is now interest by the European club in another Vorkuta player, Jon Michael Perkins, a defender, sometimes midfielder. Perkins, 23, born in Kingston, Jamaica and now living in Bowmanville, Ontario, was a regular with the soccer team at St. Bonaventure University in New York State for four years before joining the CSL club.. Perkins has been listed twice in the U-17 and U-20 Jamaican National Team player pool.

Vorkuta’s management considers that following the explosion of youth registrations in Canadian soccer some years ago, following which the game became the most played team sport in the country, there are now many young talented players ready to take the first step into high level football if given the opportunity.

Canadian players in other countries has a beneficial effect with the federal government’s reciprocity policy which requires some reasonable balance of player movement between countries if they are to allow foreign players into Canada.

“ FC Vorkuta is proud to play a strong and constructive role in developing young Canadian soccer talent into future international soccer stars and the club’s approach to reciprocity between the Canadian club and clubs in Ukraine is some indication that there can now be an explosion of Canadian soccer talent being recognized internationally,” said FC Vorkuta owner Igor Demitchev.

GM Kiril Dimitrov of Scarborough has indicated an announcement will be made soon of a new coach in good time for the approach to the new season.