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Toronto, ON (December 8, 2020) – After an unprecedented year in the sports world, the Canadian Premier League is pleased to announce that select, top-rated, Canadian university men’s soccer players from coast-to-coast will have an opportunity to earn a spot on a CPL Club through the CPL-U SPORTS Draft. This year’s edition will be conducted via an amended format due to the cancellation of the 2020 U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championship and Canadian university season across each of its four member conferences. Each year at the conclusion of the U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championship, the Canadian Premier League holds a draft for eligible U SPORTS men’s soccer student-athletes who have registered and declared themselves ‘available’ to be selected. This draft is open to any eligible U SPORTS underclassmen that registers. In the absence of a varsity campaign this fall, the CPL’s Football Development Scouting Division put together an amended plan to accommodate required changes, including delaying the draft until mid/late January 2021 to provide additional time for a robust video recruitment process. The CPL-U SPORTS Draft will consist of two rounds, with eight picks in each round due to the addition of Atlético Ottawa. All 16 draftees will be invited to their club’s preseason training, with the hopes of securing a 2021 U SPORTS Developmental Contract for the upcoming season. This truly unique partnership between the Canadian Premier League and U SPORTS allows a student-athlete with one to five years of U SPORTS eligibility remaining to sign with a CPL Club, while preserving their eligibility before returning to U SPORTS competition. Several players have also later joined their CPL club on a full-time professional player contract following graduation. U SPORTS men's soccer is the highest level of play at the university level in Canada, with 48 Canadian university teams participating. In the Canadian Premier League’s 2020 season (the Island Games), CPL- U SPORTS drafted players achieved the following:
- All four players from the 2020 CPL-U SPORTS Draft who signed with their clubs (Corey Bent at HFX Wanderers, Gabriel Balbinotti at Forge FC, Isaiah Johnston at York9 FC and Jake Ruby at HFX Wanderers) made at least three appearances at the Island Games, and three started at least one match.
- Twelve former CPL-U SPORTS Draft picks made at least one CPL appearance in 2020.
- 2019 1st overall pick Cory Bent (Cape Breton Capers) joined former university teammates Peter Schaale (2018, 5th overall), Jake Ruby (2019, 14th overall), reigning U SPORTS Male Athlete of the Year Aboubacar Sissoko (Montreal Carabins) and two other U SPORTS players to help propel HFX Wanderers FC to a second-place finish at the Island Games. Bent played in all but one of HFX's eleven matches at the Island Games, scoring once.
- 2019 U SPORTS champion and draftee Gabriel Balbinotti (UQTR Patriotes) became a key part of the attacking rotation for 2020 Canadian Premier League Champions Forge FC.
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