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 3rd Edition (June Recap) of who we think are the best teams despite province, competition, or league.
- NDC – Ontario (Next-Gen)
Reclaiming the top spot in June’s Top 10 Recap is NDC Ontario. The League 1 group which features many 2006/2007 players went undefeated in 4 games earning 3 wins and 1 tie. While the Next Gen group (2006-2009) salvaged a win against U14 boys in OPDL. It will never be easy to judge NDC Ontario’s performances but with the other programs taking losses this month we think this is where they belong.
- NDC – Whitecaps
Whitecaps drop 1 spot to #2 after suffering a loss in League 1 BC action. The team is still extremely talented and it will be interesting to see if they end up qualifying for Inter-Provincials in a few weeks while they try to capture back to back League 1 BC championships.
3. NDC – Quebec (CF Montreal Girls Academy)
Both NDC Quebec groups ended up losing games this month in both Ligue 1 QC action and LSEQ U21 AAA. Other than these two blemishes NDC Quebec has been very strong and with a good July we think they might eventually crack the top 2.
4. North Toronto Nitros U19 L1R
Another dominant performance for North Toronto this month as they go undefeated across 4 games, scoring 17 and conceding only 1. They are firmly locked in at the #4 spot right now and with a massive drop in form from any of the NDC groups will hopefully push them into the Top 3.
5. St. Hubert
New to the fold this month is St. Hubert out of Quebec. The team is off to a blistering start to the season as they are currently 7-0 in LSEQ U17 AAA which is Quebec’s top league. Also interesting in Quebec is that whoever wins the league “out-right” goes to nationals but with FC Laval at 6-1 / 2nd Place it will be a very interesting 2nd half of the season.
6. Burnaby FC
Burnaby FC formerly known as Mountain United FC made a big jump in the rankings after a highly convincing provincial championship win qualifying them for Canada Soccer Toyota Nationals. They now take the summer off before kicking off their ‘BCSPL mini-season’ in September in preparation for Nationals in October.
7. Erin Mills
Erin Mills remain undefeated this month in the Golden Horseshoe League (regional play in Ontario) and the lack of competition makes them extremely hard to evaluate. Later this year they will eventually face stronger competition and hopefully push into the Top 4.
8. UDFC
Another new team to the fold in this edition is UDFC out of Halifax. The team had an undefeated month of June beating former #8 Halifax Dunbrack 2-0 and an ‘outside looking in team’ Suburban FC 1-0. Dunbrack and Suburban are still only 5 points back of the league with a game in hand so there is still lots to play for in the Atlantic but the competition is definitely heating up.
9. Calgary SWU
Southwest move up to #9 in the June recap after another undefeated month. Although Foothills 2006 did draw with them, the group has a strong lead in the division and looks to be the favourite out of Calgary to qualify for Canada Soccer Toyota Nationals.
10. Fusion FC
After losing the semi-final of the BCSPL Provincial Playoff Championship in a PK shootout, Fusion come in at #10. The loss was definitely a big disappointment for the group who will now not qualify for nationals. We anticipate with some “Outside Looking In Teams” getting some big results in the coming months, this very talented team could fall out of the Top 10.
