YYC Soccer

Even though it's supposedly the offseason, we have no shortage of topics this week including the CanPL U Sports draft where Cavalry FC made a couple of picks. We review their selections and discuss what they could bring to the club in 2025. 

Our interview this week is with York United's Elijah Adekugbe and Cavalry's Willie Akio. They talk about the third edition of the Offszn's Best Tournament. This is a pro-am tournament played on Dec 26-27 and attracts all the big name in the Calgary soccer world in pursuit of large cash prizes.

We also chat about some Calgary soccer history this week. When Scott was doing research for his book "Here Come the Cavalry!" he found out a lot about the Calgary Mustangs team from the 1980's. We discuss their very brief history and what made them unique among the failed pro soccer teams in Calgary.

The Calgary Wild signed a couple more players this week. We also talk about the NCAA playoff tournament and Izzy Monck transferring to Arizona State for her senior year.

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The Calgary Wild announced their fifth player signing and we interviewed her for this episode of the podcast. Jaclyn Sawicki is originally from the Vancouver area and has played pro soccer in countries such as Japan, Sweden and Australia. She talks about why she came back to Canada to join the Wild. We also discuss her international career with the Philippines including playing in the 2023 FIFA World Cup.

We also talk about the Calgary Minor Soccer Association's campaign for more indoor soccer facilities and Cavalry FC preparing for the USports draft next week. And we continue to monitor the career of podcast guest Kendall Showers. Her unusual career path in soccer reached another milestone this week as she signed her first pro contract with a team in Greece.

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The CPL season is over for 2024. We kick off our offseason coverage with some speculation about who could be on the pitch for the club in 2025. We've compiled a list of players under contract, players with a club option for 2025, those out of contract and a few that we aren't sure about.

The UBC Thunderbirds won both the men's and women's USports championship this month. Both sides feature a lot of Calgarians but we focus on the men's team in this episode. We interview Noah Hrdlicka who discusses his Calgary roots, winning a national title and what comes next in his career.

We continue to follow the NCAA postseason including the Maine women's club. We've also uncovered a Calgary connection to the University of Vermont men's team which has advanced to the second round of their tournament.

Our last segment is a review of how Calgarians are doing in European leagues this season. Goteh Ntignee, Bim Pepple, Dominick Zator, Scott Kennedy and Victor Loturi are all mentioned. In this segment we speculate: could Canninga Elva be planning a return to his hometown Cavalry in 2025?

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Cavalry FC defeated Forge FC on the weekend to win the CPL playoff championship. We discuss the match and also have extended audio from Marco Carducci and Tommy Wheeldon Jr in their post match press conference.

We wrap up the U Sports season with a review of MRU's appearance at men's Nationals and take a look at some local players who won awards.

NCAA conference playoffs are underway and we review what's happening with some of the clubs with Calgary connections .

The Calgary Wild announced a couple more players this week and both have local connections to the city.

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The CPL playoff final is happening this Saturday at Spruce Meadows. We preview the match and talk about what we expect and hope to see on Saturday. Our interview this week is with Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci. We chat about this season and the road to the final, what it means to play this match at Spruce Meadows, how if feels to back in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and more. 

In post secondary action, the Dinos women and Cougars men played in Canada West playoffs last weekend. We also talk about the Cougars return to the national championships. Playoffs are also happening in the NCAA and we do a review of how the University of Maine Black Bears and University of Memphis Tigers are doing. Both teams have some pretty significant Calgary connections.

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We talk about Cavalry FC"s big playoff win in Hamilton as they advance to the CPL Final. 

We have an in depth conversation with newly appointed Calgary Wild Sporting Director Alix Bruch. Topics include player signings, recruitment and development, what they they looking for in a head coach, designated players, training camps and more. 

The Dinos women's team and Cougars men's team advance in playoff action and other post secondary results are reviewed.

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This weekend there will be six local teams competing in playoff matches. Cavalry FC will face Forge FC in Hamilton on Sunday. The Dinos women's squad have a home playoff date vs UBC Okanagan on Friday afternoon. MRU Cougars men play the University of Victoria while the Dinos men play UFV. SAIT's men's team will face NW Polytechnic on Friday while the Trojans women's team have a bye until Saturday.  We preview all of these matches.

Our interview this week is with Cavalry FC's Tobias Warschewski who discusses winning the Golden Boot, why he wanted to return to Canada after his stint in Edmonton and his thoughts prior to the playoff matchup with Forge on Sunday.

Calgary Wild FC made some executive hires this week and will have a press conference on Friday afternoon. This press conference will reveal the team's first player signing and the identity of a new addition to their ownership group. It was teased that he's a Calgarian who currently plays in the NHL. We speculate on the identities of the first player and the new hockey-playing owner.

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The Calgary Minor Soccer Association released some numbers regarding the need for more indoor facilities. The number of players and teams has exploded and the need is undeniable. But where does the money come from? We discuss the barriers and muse about possible solutions. 

Cavalry FC enters the final weekend of the CPL regular season with a good chance to secure second place. We talk about last week's victory vs HFX and their upcoming match vs Valour.

Our interview this week is with Akwasi (Junior) Agyekum. Akwasi has most recently played semipro soccer in the Australian second division. He's previously starred with Thompson Rivers University and helped them win a National Championship.  We catch up with him and ask how a Calgarian ends up playing soccer in Tasmania. We also discuss the non-profit organization he's recently started with a friend called Cleats4Kids.  

Both U Sports and ACAC wrap up their regular seasons this weekend. Most notably, we talk about the Dinos vs MacEwan matchup this Sunday which could determine the Prairie Division's champion (women's division).

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Defender Myla Schneider joins us to discuss the thriving connection between Calgary and the University of Maine soccer program. She was the first to don the Black Bears jersey but now about a quarter of the roster is composed of Calgarians. This group has helped the team reach new heights by winning their conference championship and making the national tournament. We also discuss Myla's soccer career and her goals in the future.

The SAIT Trojans and Calgary Dinos women's teams both move their way up in the national rankings. And on the men's side, the Edmonton universities paid a visit to the Calgary schools this past weekend in some important late season matches. We cover these topics and more in our post-secondary segments.

Cavalry FC scored a massive victory in Victoria last weekend and will play their regular season home finale on Saturday. The Cavs are out of the running for the Shield but where are the likely to end up on the table? We break down the possibilities and preview this weekend's match.

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We interview Scott Kennedy, who talks about his pro career, time with the Canadian Men's National Team and his connections to his hometown of Calgary. We discuss his recent move to K.A.S. Eupen in the Belgian second division and how it's been going so far.

Cavalry FC played Vancouver FC to a goaless draw last week. This clinched a playoff spot but there is still some jostling for positioning. We preview their match with Pacific FC this weekend.

The Dinos women's team and SAIT's women's team continue to win matches and score a lot of goals. In men's Canada West action we saw the Dinos and Cougars play the Crowchild Classic part two. We recap these events and more in our post-secondary round up.

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