The next generation of Canadian soccer emerged this regular season in the Canadian Premier League, with young players racking up big minutes on the Jones Deslauriers | Navacord U-21 Minutes Leaderboard. Valour FC goalkeeper Jonathan Sirios and York United’s versatile youngster Max Ferrari led the way in a virtual tie in terms of minutes players, taking 2,160 minutes and 2,159 minutes, respectively. Sirios, 21, led Valour from the back this season, starting with an impressive run at The Kickoff, CPL’s opening season bubble event. The CF Montreal loanee returns to his parent club with 24 professional starts and nine clean sheets under his belt. Ferrari, meanwhile, made 27 appearances for the Nine Stripes as he slowly became one of the young team’s most dynamic and reliable attackers, scoring three goals and, along with Sirios, becoming major contenders for the 2021 CPL Under-21 Player of the Year award. Ferrari’s York team leads the way with three of the top eight under-21 players in minutes played, followed by midfielders Isaiah Johnston and Cedric Toussaint. Cavalry added two, with another CF Montreal loanee in Karifa Yao joining standout midfielder Victor Loturi combining for over 3,600 professional minutes. A total of 48 Canadian players under the age of 21 saw the pitch in 2021, with each club giving minutes to at least four. York led there, too, with 11 young players racking up minutes for the side based out of York Lions Stadium. To be eligible to count for a team’s under-21 minutes threshold, domestic players must have been born no earlier than January 1, 2000.


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