Canadian Premier League U-Sports Draft set for Thursday

By Robert Belardi 

York United will have the No. 5 overall pick Thursday night as the Canadian Premier League U-Sports Draft is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. EST. 

Fans across the country can tune in to the live broadcast on January 20 hosted by Kristian Jack, @cplsoccer on OneSoccer, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and on the official CanPL.ca website.

The CPL-U-Sports Draft consists of two rounds and one selection per team per round. Atletico Ottawa will do the honours to start things off, followed by FC Edmonton, HFX Wanderers, Valour FC, York United, Cavalry FC, Forge FC and finally Pacific FC. 

Since Pacific FC won the CPL title, the club will choose last and since Atletico Ottawa finished last, the club will select first. 

In total, 165 U-Sports athletes will be eligible to be drafted. The list of players is determined between U-Sports and CPL coaches, along with scouting departments from numerous clubs.

Players who wish to enter the U-Sports draft will have between one to five years of eligibility to be drafted and sign a professional contract as a U-Sports athlete. 

Despite there not being a 2020 U-Sports season, scouts and clubs have exercised the best use of their judgment to promote these young men into the draft process. Fortunately for many, if they are not selected this year, some will have the opportunity for next season. 

In years to come, we will see the draft grow as the CPL has granted expansion clubs to Vancouver and Saskatoon. Those clubs are set to begin in 2023.