By the time they celebrate Canada Day with a matinee home match against Vancouver FC, the Forge—always one of the busiest teams in the country—will not have played for 21 days.
That’s a good rest, although the Hammers were red hot coming into the downtime to accommodate the Men’s World Cup.
They are in first place in the CPL, haven’t allowed a goal at home this year, and had serious momentum. So naturally it begs a visit to pro sports’ longtime vs. rust debate.
But according to the players who were at Hamilton Stadium for the well-attended World Cup viewing party Thursday night, there is no debate.
Forge, they insist, will not suffer from any corrosion. Next question please.
The club returns to regular training Monday, and will take only Thursday off as they prepare for the final 18 regular-season games and the second round of the Canadian Championships.
“I don’t think there’s going to be much of a rust period when we get back,” says the impressive 20-year-old forward Kevaughn Tavernier, who has represented Canada at U-17 and U-20, won the Ontario Premier Young Player of the Year Award in 2024 and is another in that seemingly endless chain of prospects who have risen through Forge affiliate Sigma FC.
“Our staff does a good job of keeping us active during the break. I’m sure the training will start well so any rust will get out before we get back for that first game.”
Right winger Hoce Massunda, who turned 21 on Friday and also has a deep Sigma pedigree concurs with his fellow forward.
“We were given a program for runs and workouts and I’m pretty sure the whole team is doing them,” says Massunda.
“When we get back Monday we’ll ease into it at first then gradually pick it up. By the end of the week it’s back to normal.
“I don’t think there will be a letdown or rust at all, because I think the guys are hungry to be better than we were last year. We have some unfinished business (league title) we need to attend to, so I think the guys are going to be hungry to get more wins when we come back.”
Massunda has been working out every day with his father and brother on the pitch at Erin Mills Secondary School near his Mississauga home, “running, getting some touches, trying to remain fit for when we come back.”
And Tavernier has been meeting with a small group of teammates at Hamilton Stadium to run, train and “work together to get better.”
The attention on the World Cup splashes over into increased recognition of the Canadian Premier League, and soccer in general in this country, and the CPL should benefit from the increased exposure to The Beautiful Game.
“Having the Canadian team in it and having games in Toronto is going to be good for the league,” Tavernier agrees. “Because this league was started because you needed to have a domestic premier league, in order to have a World Cup.
“I think having it in our backyard is going to give a lot of young kids a chance to see it live in the city and see the overall experience and get a love for the game that maybe they never had before.”
And hosting watch parties at the stadium, with Forge players there to mingle with fans—and prospective fans who hadn’t known much about the six-time CPL finalists and four-time champions—“is amazing for our league,” Massunda says. “I think it’s amazing bringing the community in, bringing everyone to our home field watching Canada’s games.”
Tavernier concludes with, “Everybody seeing us here will bring extra bodies to our games and show everybody what Forge can do.”
The next installment of that process will be Canada Day. How appropriate.