By Ottawa Sports Pages, for OSU Force Academy
The true blue of the OSU Force and the fleur-de-lys bleu of CF Montréal have come together to break down a stubborn provincial border and broaden opportunities for Ottawa youth soccer and Canadian professional football alike.
Ottawa South United Soccer Club recently became partners of the Major League Soccer franchise’s Scouting and Development Centre program – the first such CF Montréal partnership outside of Quebec.
“There’s a lot of chemistry between our goals and ambitions at OSU and the goals and ambitions of the people that run the youth Academy in Montreal,” highlights OSU Club President Bill Michalopulos, who had to smile at the beautiful branding symmetry of the clubs’ mutual blue colours, although it was their shared commitment to professionalism and excellence that clinched the deal.
“We have a proven record and certainly they’ve established themselves as one of the best-run clubs in the MLS over a number of years,” adds OSU’s Founding President of 20+ years. “And the other big factor is geographic proximity. That’s huge. They’re just an hour and a half away from here.”
Capitalizing on opportunities on the other side of the Ottawa River has been a key desire of OSU’s in recent years. On April 11-12, the Force men’s, women’s and under-19 teams will open their new seasons in Quebec’s Ligue 1, which they joined in 2020 to give their older youth and senior players a chance to play closer to home.
OSU’s presence in the Quebec league, and the success it has found with young rosters, certainly helped showcase the club’s strengths to CF Montréal, along with numerous Ontario Player Development League and Canadian youth high-performance championships won season after season.
“That’s part of our record, and we’ve demonstrated that over the years in a consistent manner,” Michalopulos notes. “Professional clubs take OSU seriously, because they know we are heavily invested in soccer, and we have proven success with our boys and girls going to the next level.”
With many Force players having joined the Montréal Academy over the years, OSU’s connection to CF Montréal dates back a decade before it was recently formalized.
“OSU is a well-structured, ambitious club deeply committed to youth development,” signals CF Montréal Academy Director Marinos Papageorgopoulos. “We look forward to strengthening the relationship already established through the OSU players who have progressed into our Academy.”
Among those are current first-team player Aleksandr Guboglo, who kicked off his youth career at OSU before joining the CF Montréal Academy, while Myles Knelsen (U18), Cyrus He (U15) and May Ilias (women’s program) are also OSU products currently with CFM.
“We’re very excited about this partnership,” Michalopulos indicates. “MLS is an established world-class league, there’s no doubt about that. We’ve always wanted to do a partnership with an MLS club, given that it’s by far the highest level of soccer in Canada and in North America.”
Michalopulos notes that OSU continues to maintain strong relationships with other Canadian MLS clubs too, and that Force players can pursue pro academy opportunities wherever fits best for them. But linking up with CF Montréal will offer many benefits to all OSU players.
Scouting and Development Centre program partners can access CF Montréal resources, both at the technical and administrative levels, including regular on-site visits. Partner clubs also have exclusive access to CF Montréal activities and initiatives such as tournaments, camps and technical competitions.
And for highly talented players, the dream of being recruited into CF Montréal’s fully-funded Academy and pursuing a pro soccer career in MLS is that much closer. CF Montréal also manages a women’s program similar to the National Development Centre Ontario in Toronto, along with U15, U16 and U18 academy teams.
“Our job on the competitive side is really to make opportunities for our players, and this alliance puts that chance right there for them,” Michalopulos underlines. “We can’t stand still. We always have to be looking to the future and thinking about how we can improve. That ambition has always been the foundation to our success at OSU.”
Learn more about Ottawa South United Soccer Club at OSU.ca.
