Valour FC open to new possibilities

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This article was published 26/02/2020 (2351 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To say the odds are stacked against them would be an understatement.

The 100-plus soccer players that came from all over the world to try out for Valour FC this week don’t need to be reminded of that.

But yet, they made the trip to Winnipeg anyway. For them, the slim chance to have their years of hard work finally pay off is worth the price of their flights and hotel (and a $150 registration fee).

Last year, the Canadian Premier League ran open trials in each of the seven cities that had franchises in the inaugural season. Heading into Year 2, it’s no longer implemented by the league, but that didn’t stop Valour from hosting one. They’re one of two CPL teams, Cavalry FC being the other, having open tryouts. Day 1 of the two-day tryout kicked off Wednesday inside the Winnipeg Soccer Federation South building. Only 40 players will be invited to come back today.

“I love the excitement, the energy, the enthusiasm and the intensity. All of those intangibles are always there,” said Valour head coach and general manager Rob Gale. “To get people from all over the globe shows the excitement in the Canadian Premier League and Valour, which is awesome. You love to see that wide range of ages, cultures, ethnicities. You know, it’s brilliant.”

Valour currently has five open roster spots. Those who impress at the trial will be brought back for an invite-only camp next week that will feature U Sports and League1 Ontario players, as well as CPL free agents.

On the surface, the open trial may seem like a waste of time, or even a cash grab. But the fact Valour found local high school player Tyler Attardo at last year’s trial proves that finding a diamond in the rough is possible. Attardo, who graduated from River East Collegiate last June, scored six goals for Valour. Last week, he signed a deal to join a professional team in Chile and hopes to advance to a European club.

“Isn’t it great? That’s what the Canadian Premier League is all about,” said Gale on Attardo’s success story. “I told them that it’s not a pipe dream. Tyler Attardo sat here a year ago and now he’s hoping to play in Europe this summer.”

There’s quite of few players that only had to drive down Pembina Highway to make it to the tryout. Others came from all over Canada, and some even as far as Portugal, France, Germany and Chile. The wide range of soccer backgrounds and ages introduces players to different styles.

“It’s really physical here,” said 24-year-old Marcos Maximiliano Quiroga, an attacking midfielder from Argentina. “In Argentina, we think so much. It’s more strategy and finesse. This tryout is very good for me. I see a lot of opportunities to apply my skills.”

The field was split up into four sections with each area focusing on different aspects of the game. Eric Watson, a 22-year-old forward from Thunder Bay, Ont., who recently finished his college career at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, was asked what players think they need to do in order to get noticed by the coaches.

“I think a lot of people make the mistake of trying to do a little too much at times. I think you got to do the simple things right and do them well. I think everyone’s guilty of it, myself included, of letting the occasion get the better of you sometimes,” Watson said.

“At the end of the day, it’s a sport and you’ve got to enjoy it. We’re all just trying to move ahead in this sport for our own sake, but at the end of the day, we all got into it for the enjoyment of it.”

Eberechi Okwuwolu is Canadian, but it was still a long, expensive trip to make it to the tryout. The 23-year-old defender from Prince Edward Island said he’s been chasing the professional soccer dream for a couple of years now. The former University of PEI standout said the CPL is a game-changer for Canadian soccer players.

“In P.E.I., we don’t have a team, but Halifax (Wanderers) has a team. But the difference is now that kids in P.E.I. have more to look forward to. I work as a manager of a store that sells soccer stuff and kids come in and they’re excited about the CPL. They want to know what team is doing well and what team they could possibly try out for. Two or three years ago, there was nothing in Canada. If you wanted to be a pro, you had to leave the country,” Okwuwolu said.

A favourite to make the cut is 25-year-old Calgary native Tofa Fakunle. The attacking midfielder already knows what it’s like to make it to the CPL as he spent last season with his hometown team, Cavalry FC.

“To see how many people came here to chase their dreams, this is what it’s about. Soccer is alive in Canada and it’s beautiful to see,” Fakunle said.

Last season, Fakunle only made two appearances for a total of nine minutes. He knows he has a long road ahead of him to keep his CPL career intact, but he’s in Winnipeg as he believes he can handle a bigger role and help the team win.

“I think I can bring goal-scoring,” he said. “I think I can affect the game positively. I’m vocal and I will demand and push my teammates. I’m not shy of that. I’m also okay with being pushed. But ultimately, I will affect the game attacking wise and do my part defensively as well.”

It’s unlikely another Attardo will be discovered this week, but that’s OK with Gale. There’s more to these tryouts than trying to find players to round out your roster.

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“It’s just a good way to establish ourselves in the community more,” Gale said. “For the majority, this is going to be their team whether they’re playing for us or not. You want them to be invested in it and feel like they were treated with respect. We want everybody to feel like they got an equal shot and hopefully, they’ll come away knowing a bit more about the level and the club itself.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.