Who’s the best team in the entire country? This question is quite frequently asked in Canada and truthfully no one will ever have the exact answer as there is no Canadian National competition that involves all teams.
Here at The Playbook however we will try to ‘put the pieces together’ and provide a “monthly insight” into who we think are the best U17 (2006 Teams) are across the country.
Enjoy the read below as this is our 4th Edition (July Recap) of who we think are the best teams despite province, competition, or league.
- Toronto FC Academy U17
Toronto FC U17/ 2006 Boys will remain in the #1 position this month as the team played no games in the month of July. There are rumors that the group (which will now be TFC U19) going will be joining the League 1 Ontario Reserve for their ‘2nd Season’ that starts this fall.
- Vancouver Whitecaps Academy U17
Similar to Toronto FC U17, Whitecaps U17 will “hold” their #2 position as they played no games in the month of July. Unlike TFC however we haven’t heard anything about where these players will be getting games once the academy season returns in August/ September but once we do we will be sure to keep everyone posted.
- CF Montreal Academy U17
CF Montreal will stay locked in at the 3rd spot in this edition as they also did not play any games in the month of July. Without a defined U19 system however we have seen many players from their U17 team make the transition and play PLSQ with CF Montreal U23s this summer.
- North Mississauga L1R
Moving up to #4 is North Mississauga L1R after going undefeated in the month of July in League 1 Ontario U19 Reserve action. The team took care of business in a very anticipated matchup versus Vaughan SC beating their opponents 4-3 to end the month. In August North Miss will look to bring home the League 1 U19 Reserve championship as they have now qualified for the Semi-Final where they will take on former Top 10 team Woodbridge SC and face the winner of division rival Rush Canada or Sigma FC.
- Club de Soccer Mont-Royal Outremont
CS MRO climb back up from #7 to #5 in our July update after a very impressive month. The group went undefeated in league play finishing with 4 wins and 0 losses with one of them being against another Top 10 opponent CS Longueuil. In the FTF x FC Laval Showcase CS MRO decided to play in the U19 division instead of the U17 division to face “stiffer” competition and ended up making it all the way to the finals before losing to the hosts FC Laval U21. With about one month left in the LSEQ U17 AAA season it will be fascinating to see if CS MRO can hold off the rest of the quality teams in Quebec and qualify for Canada Soccer Toyota nationals.
- Born to Be Academy
Moving down 2 spots is BTB Academy after what was still a pretty strong month of July. As expected BTB are still undefeated in Edmonton but their big challenge as we spoke about in the last edition was going to Quebec to face some quality opponents in the FTF x FC Laval Summer Showcase. In the group stage BTB took care Honourable Mention team St. Laurent SC 3-0 and tied another Top 10 team CS Longueuil 0-0. However after qualifying for the championship game in what turned out to be a rematch with CS Longueuil, BTB ended up losing the closely contested game 2-1 which earned them 2nd place in the tournament, hence the drop in rankings. With plenty of soccer to be played this summer it will be interesting to see how BTB respond at Alberta Provincials where they will try to qualify for nationals for a 2nd straight year at the U17 age group.
- Sigma FC L1R
Returning back to the fold in our July Edition is Sigma FC L1R who had probably the strongest month out of any team in the country. The group went 5-0 in the month of July scoring 25 goals and conceding just 1 which was good enough to push them past Woodbridge SC in the standings (who they beat in this month 3-0) for the Men’s U19 East Division Regular Season Championship. Sigma will now look to win the League 1 Reserve U19 playoffs with a formidable matchup against formerly top 10 ranked team Rush Canada in the semis-finals.
- CS Longueuil
The #8 Team in the country this month belongs to CS Longueuil after a great month of July. The team started off slow losing to #4 Ranked CS MRO 4-1 at the beginning of the month, but after that defeat did they ever get the ball rolling. For the rest of the month they beat former Top 10 ranked team AS Laval 4-3 who was undefeated at the time, and knocked off fellow Top 10 ranked team BTB 2-1 to take home the FTF x FC Laval Summer Showcase U17 Division championship. Without the loss to CS MRO we would probably have CS Longueuil higher on this list but with a strong end to the season don’t be surprised if they rise in our next edition
- Burnaby FC
Holding firm at #9 is Burnaby FC fresh off their BCSPL Championship in the month of June. Burnaby now has a fairly long wait until nationals but it will be great to see them in action come October against some of the best teams from across the country.
- Calgary Southwest United 06 Boys
A new arrival to the July Edition is Calgary Southwest 2006 Boys. The team is coming off a perfect month which saw them go undefeated in league play where they currently sit 3rd place with a 6 win, 1 tie and 2 loss record. Their most impressive result this month was beating former #10 ranked team Calgary West Celtic 2-1, which ultimately knocked out the ‘favourites’ in Calgary from the Provincial Championships (meaning they can’t qualify for nationals) which are set to take place in a few weeks. Southwest still has a lot of work to do to stay in the Top 10 but after bouncing back from a few poor losses to start the season in May and June they seem to be clicking at the right time.
Honourable Mention: Edmonton Warriors, St.Laurent , Rush Canada L1R, Surrey United SC, Calgary Foothills, AS Laval, Suburban FC, Halifax City, Woodbridge SC
