Caribbean
Selects of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL)
enjoyed their first win over Border Stars
2-1 in just their fourth game of the young
2006 season. The team was on a two game skid
after losing the two games in three days
last weekend at the hands of Toronto Croatia
5-1 and Italia 2-1.
Border Stars are the reigning 2005 CPSL
Canada Cup Champions from the
Windsor-Detroit border and the Selects were
determine to send a signal to the other
teams in the league that they intend to earn
their respect. The team under coach Corcel "Edu"
Blair worked on their defensive schemes
after the domination by Croatia and as such
has improved their showing with the close
score against Italia and finally achieved
their first win usually takes new franchises
an eternity to accomplish.
It is ironic that the Stars had to be
omitted from the Caribbean Selects formally
Caribbean Stars to avoid identity confusion
but on this day, Caribbean Selects was the
Stars by virtue of a late goal scored by 17
year old Osman Samura to leave Windsor with
a 2-1 win and the full compliments of their
first three (3) points.
The Selects has one of the youngest team in
the CSL and coach Corcel is hopeful that
with the win the team would be able to go on
a winning streak that is important to attain
to be a legitimate contender in the tough
International Division.
Caribbean Selects Tie 0-0 in CSL
Season Opener
Caribbean
Selects team shown above is from left to
right:
Back row-
Coach Corcel Blair, Osman Samura, Fuad Mude,
Simon Mais, Kamal Mude, and Ajani Stapleton:
Middle row- Paul Okumu, Craig Steven, John
Lewis, Kevon Chambers, Mensah Kojo, and
Maxime Donaval: Front row- Jamo
Welch, Quincy Cooper, Dixon Modeste, Douglas
Sereti, Mohamed Kanu, and Dustin Chun
Caribbean Selects Tie 0-0 in CSL Season
Opener
Caribbean
Selects earn a point after playing to an
exciting 0-0 tie with North York Astros at
Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke. It was the
Selects first competitive game of their 2006
soccer season and also the first in the
short history of the newly formed Caribbean
franchise that will be competing in the
Canadian Soccer League (CSL) formerly the
Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL).
It was a good start for the Selects
organization and the point earned should be
a motivational tool for the team to try to
win their next game against the Serbian
White Eagles. The Serbians have also gotten
off to a good start by beating Italians 3-2
in their home opener last week. With the
Caribbeans and the Serbians off to good
start shows well for the league and should
help to increase the popularity of soccer in
Ontario and hopefully Canada.
The Caribbean Selects definitely looked like
the better team in the game with the Astros
but it seemed that the team has some kinks
to iron out in regards to the flow of their
plays and their offensive finishing after
squandering several potential scoring
opportunities. The back four defenders were
exceptional as a unit but the midfield seem
a little disjointed at times which resulted
in the Astros spraying dangerous diagonal
passes in the latter stages of the game that
resulted in dangerous crosses around the
Selects goal.
The Selects roster is suppose to be one of
the youngest in the league and with the
mixture of the experience players they carry
it is possible that it may take some time
for the team to gel in the CSL. The
Caribbean Selects next game is on Saturday
June 3rd at Lamport Stadium at 7pm against
division leaders Serbians which will be a
very tough inter- division game for the
Caribbean’s.
Caribbean Selects game
Rained Out
Caribbean Selects
received bitter sweet news from the game officials on
Saturday that the Lamport Stadium field condition was
not conducive for play. Due to excessive water lodged
under the surface of the carpet (turf) and around the
goal area the field was deemed unfit for use. The
Selects game was against division leading Serbian White
Eagles and it would have been the third game of the
publicized Caribbean team’s soccer weekend.
The first two were
played by Jamaica Reggae Boyz against England and
Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors against the Czech
Republic. The Caribbean teams did not fear well in those
encounters in that the Reggae Boyz were soundly beaten
by England 6-0 and the Soca Warriors was dominated by
the Czech Republic 3-0 in a game where the score was
unchanged after half time after the Czech made several
substitution within 16 minutes into the second half.
The Caribbean Selects
as the third choice was in second place in their
division heading into this game and was said to be ready
for the Serbs. But if the results of the other two
Caribbean team’s games were an indication of what might
have been in store for the selects then the rain out
game could be interpreted as a blessing in disguise and
probably gave the Selects more needed time to prepare
for the strong Serbian team.
Some of the Caribbean
Select players can be seen above in their change room
awaiting word from the officials on the status of their
game against the Serbian White Eagles and below the team
posed for a picture before leaving Allan Lamport
Stadium. Next weekend the Selects play matches against
teams in their division. On Friday June 9 the team is at
Streetsville Memorial Park in Oakville against Toronto
Croatia with a kickoff at 8pm and on Sunday June 11,
they travel to the Soccer Centre in Woodbridge to play
against the Italia Shooters at 7pm.
Caribbean Selects
game rained out
Story on Caribbean Selects
(by Rocket Robin) June 3, 2006
The Saturday June
3rd, 2006 CSL game between Caribbean Selects and
Serbian White Eagles scheduled for Lamport
Stadium in Toronto at 7:00pm was cancelled by
referee Isaac Raymond (he was also the referee
for the USL Montreal Impact vs. Miami FC game
the Sunday before) for a waterlogged field. This
was expected as it had been raining hard all day
and the field was flooded (Astroturf with a
concrete base).
A Selects official recognized me and thanked me
for coming and went back to the dressing room
and brought out Coach Corcel Blair to talk about
the team. I had asked for a program which had a
list of tonight’s roster of both teams and
pictures of the Selects roster. I didn’t
recognize too very many players with CPSL
experience but Blair filled me in on who the
players were.
The Caribbean Selects are a blend of three
teams, Toronto Santos, Caribbean Stars and the
Brampton Dynamic Kickers. Toronto Santos has a
link with the team Santos of Jamaica.
Kareem Reynolds (midfielder) and Quincy Cooper
(defender) had played for Metro Lions last year.
Steven Craig (striker) had played for Laval.
Dixon Modeste (goalie) was on the roster of USL
Rochester Raging Rhinos. Maxim Dorneval
(midfield/striker) played last year for the CPSL
cup champions Oakville Blue Devils. Mohammed
Kanu (midfielder) and Osman Samaru
(midfielder/striker, only age 17) just finished
winning the Toronto high school championship
with George Harvey SS and next is their school
playing in the Ontario provincial championship.
Also listed were John Lewis (defender), Paul
Okumu (defender/midfielder), Mensah Kojo
(midfielder/defender), Kevon Chambers
(defender), Dustin Chung (defender), Ajani
Stapleton (not listed tonight), Kamai Mude
(midfielder) and Fuad Mude (midfielder), Simon
Mais (midfielder), Jahmo Welch (midfielder), and
Douglas Seretti (midfielder/striker).
Blair says he expects the team to be stronger in
the middle of the season and will be the
surprise of the league. The team expects that
U-23 Jamaican international and Harborview
player Richard West will play with them.
Tonight’s cancellation probably helps the team
in that the gate would have been impacted by few
fans showing up because of the strong rain. A
gate with White Eagle fans showing up could have
added thousands. The delay gives the Selects
more time to practice and avoids the undefeated
White Eagles for now. Putting this game off
until maybe August will allow the team to hold
it at their real home Birchmount Stadium that is
currently undergoing renovations. Since they
have to play some home games until then, they
are scheduled to wander between Lamport Stadium,
Esther Shiner Stadium, and Centennial Stadium.
This was the only game in town tonight so it
wasn’t as bad as finding last Sunday’s Toronto
Supra Portuguese called off for field conditions
and being marooned downtown because I’d come by
transit with not enough time to take in another
game. This night I could walk to Joe Mercury’s
Bar and play trivia with my friends. With the
final music Playback question being “In this
song a woman reads a newspaper story of an actor
who had died when he was drinking”: with of
answers: Torn, Brick, Tom’s Diner, One
Headlight, or Building A Mystery. I saved our
bar by getting us the right answer “Tom’s Diner”
and getting us into 8th place in all North
America out of over 1800 bars. But that’s the
other half of my web page…
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
CARIBBEAN
SELECTS ENTER CPSL'S INTERNATIONAL DIVISION BY
Sunday - April 23,
2006 When Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz attracted
world-wide attention by reaching the World Cup
finals in 1998, it signaled the beginning of an
era that the West Indies, and even the wider
Caribbean, was in the business of soccer.
The excitement was
followed by a wave of players entering top club
soccer throughout Europe and the enthusiasm was
felt in Toronto.
It’s not
surprising, therefore, that a newly-formed
Caribbean Selects is one of the first clubs to
join the CPSL’s International Division which
kicks off the 2006 season next month.
Aldwyn McGill, an
attacking midfielder turned striker in the ‘70s
when Trinidad & Tobago was making its mark in
world soccer, who found his way to Canada to be
one of the more prominent members of the Toronto
soccer community, is one of the principals
behind the launch. So is Neil Palmer of the
Brampton Kickers Soccer Club to the northwest of
Toronto who also helped to launch the
professional Brampton Stallions in 2005.
McGill, who coached
Metro Lions of the CPSL (now Oakville Blue
Devils) and has the soccer skills to go with a
reputation of being a top soccer administrator
and writer for the Carribean Camera newspaper,
expects the Selects to be the product of a
gradual building process over time.
“While we will be
making every effort to win our games from the
word go, it’s going to take a little time to
build a team to win this new division,” said
McGill.
Caribbean Selects
are still conducting tryouts every Saturday and
Sunday 10 am to 12 noon at Downsview Park on
Keele Street just north of Wilson Avenue in
Toronto. For more information, call (416)
286-6292.
Caribbean Selects
is one of five teams in the new International
Division to play an interlocking schedule with
seven community teams in the National Division,
to kickoff the CPSL's ninth season on May 19.
Other International Division teams are Italia
Shooters, Portuguese Toronto Supra, Serbian
White Eagles and Toronto Croatia. Additional
teams are being interviewed for entry in 2007
when the total number in the new division is
expected to reach eight.
