A group of Canadian Premier League players is taking advantage of a new opportunity to help them get into coaching beyond their playing days. CPLers from across the country will be participating in Canada Soccer's newly-expanded C/B Licence Coach Education Program, which previously was only available to national team players but is now open to anyone in the Canadian Premier League. In total, 23 CPLers have registered for the course, which will provide a pathway for players to earn the Canada Soccer B Licence, which is a first step toward coaching at the professional level. Most CPLers participating in the program are current players, although some are former CPL players who have since joined the coaching staff of their clubs. The full list of players, by club, is:
  • Pacific FC: Kadin Chung, Ryan McCurdy, Josh Heard, Mark Village
  • Cavalry FC: Mason Trafford, Elijah Adekugbe, Marco Carducci, Sergio Camargo, Joe Di Chiara, Tofa Fakunle
  • Valour FC: Austin Ricci
  • Forge FC: Dom Samuel, Jonathan Grant, Maxim Tissot
  • York United: Michael Petrasso, Roger Thompson, Nathan Ingham, Jordan Wilson, Niko Giantsopoulos
  • Atlético Ottawa: Milovan Kapor, Ben McKendry, Ajay Khabra
  • HFX Wanderers FC: Peter Schaale
As part of the program, the licence courses will be paid for by the CPL clubs and will not count against the salary cap. Several current and former CPLers have already taken the Canada Soccer B Licence course through their involvement with Canada Soccer’s men’s national team, including David Edgar, Kyle Bekker, Jamar Dixon, and Kyle Porter.

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