"Pathways are important," Bobby Smyrniotis told reporters on Saturday.
The Forge FC coach, having just beaten Atlético Ottawa 2-0 to kick off the Canadian Premier League season, was reflecting on his line-up that featured five starters with experience in the Ontario Premier League (formerly League1 Ontario).
While Tristan Borges and Mo Babouli have been fixtures in the Forge squad for some time, and Hoce Massunda last year became a CPL star in his own right, all of them have close ties to Sigma FC. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Kevaughn Tavernier is back in the pro league after a few years in the OPL.
In midfield, though, was a less familiar face: Anthony Aromatario. The 22-year-old was last year's OPL MVP with the Woodbridge Strikers, and made his professional debut with Forge earlier this year in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Now, fresh off of signing a multi-year pro deal, he's starting for the reigning CPL Shield winners in Matchweek 1.
Aromatario wasn't the only alumnus of a Premier Soccer Leagues Canada (formerly League1 Canada) competition to make his CPL debut this weekend, though.
Out on the west coast, former Scrosoppi FC (OPL) standout Tristan Marshall got the start for Pacific. On the Mainland, ex-Langley United (British Columbia Premier League) keeper Matheus De Souza made his pro debut in goal for Vancouver FC.
In Hamilton, former Simcoe County Rovers (OPL) captain and ninth overall pick in the CPL-U SPORTS Draft Noah Bickford played a couple of minutes for Forge as well.
Add those names to the extensive list of CPL players who have at least some experience in a PSLC league, or even in the youth academies of PSLC clubs.
"Where else do players come from? They come from the system," Smyrniotis said.
"It's important that, in a good way, everyone's got to take advantage of the system. The same way those teams in OPL need to make sure they're getting the top talents from all the youth clubs centralized there, so they're moving up the funnel, up the pyramid, in order to get to us, and from us, to move on and hopefully play with our national team at some point.
"From day one, it's been something that's very important to this club, and it'll remain."
Ever since the CPL kicked off in 2019, clubs have drawn heavily from the well of PSLC talent. Forge, of course, built the backbone of their early teams from the Sigma system. Meanwhile, BCPL players have found their way into the Pacific and Vancouver FC lineups routinely throughout the years.
CPL squads are, by and large, built on Canadian talent; PSLC leagues offer a wealth of that. Hundreds of players have built pro careers through that pro-am pathway, whether in the CPL or abroad, so every club in the CPL has plenty of incentive to draw on that pool of players.
The CPL season may have gotten into full swing this past weekend, but many teams' scouting staff will also have a keen eye on the PSLC leagues kicking off. The BCPL season began last Thursday, while the OPL kicks off this week, beginning with OPL Cup action on April 7, 9 and 11.
