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Post by luisluis on Mar 15, 2018 20:56:05 GMT
League 1 Ontario posted an update describing a new competition format.
On the men's side, This year the league will go to a single table format. 17 teams will play each other once for a 16 game season. The top 8 teams make the playoffs which will be UEFA champions league-style group stage format which will lead to a championship final in October. The winner of the League 1 will enter the 2019 Canadian Championship against other professional and semi-pro Canadian teams including MLS teams TFC, Impact, and Whitecaps if it progresses far enough in the competition.
On the women's side, thirteen teams will comoete in a single table format with the top 4 teams going to the playoffs. The playoffs will consist of a semifinal and final format for the women's competition.
Its encouraging to see that league 1 continues to evolve and refine its competition. I think it reflects the forward looking approach that the league takes to player development. And the proof is in the pudding. They are moving a significant amount of players to the next level on multiple fronts - International Prol, MLS, USL, College bound, and CanMNT and CanWNT. The alumni list is notable. Im hard pressed to come up with any other soccer initiative from recent memory that has made such an impact in a short time frame.
I saw someone lament on the lack of BC players and the abundance of ONT players in the most recent CanMNT pool call up. Notable is that there are 4 league 1 Ontario alumni. Is it mere coincidence given that Ontario has a D3 league and BC does not?
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