Consistent roster the key to Windsor TFC’s success
Expansion team from Unionville visits Sunday to open League1 Ontario season
Windsor’s entry in League1 Ontario men’s soccer will take a different approach this season.
It starts with the name, as the club will no longer be known as the Windsor TFC Stars. The name is now Windsor TFC in recognition of the team’s affiliation agreement with the Toronto Football Club. “We’ve taken the Stars out of the picture,” Windsor TFC general manager Vancho Cirovski said. “We’re going to focus on the Windsor TFC brand and not a holdover name or brand. We just need to identify this brand.” Windsor opens its season on Sunday against the expansion Unionville Milliken SC at Alumni Field at 2 p.m., but the name isn’t the only new look for the club this season.
“We’re going to be focused on kids that we have in the community,” Cirovski said. “Anyone that comes (to play) is going to be committed for the entire season. We can’t have turnover like we have in the past to be consistent.” Now in its fourth season of operation, Windsor TFC often used players from the University of Windsor or St. Clair College, but when August rolled round, those players were obligated to return to school. That left the club shorthanded throughout the remainder of the season. Last season, Windsor lost seven of its final eight games from the middle of August through October to finish the campaign at 6-12-4.
“We’re trying something different,” Windsor TFC’s second-year head coach Zibby Piatkiewicz said. “I said before I took the job that I was going to see how we can improve.
“You try to compete all the way
You try to compete all the way until October, but in previous years, we couldn’t do that because all the guys were gone in August.
until October, but in previous years, we couldn’t do that because all the guys were gone in August. We don’t want to deal with that anymore.”
Windsor TFC runs U18 and U17 boys teams and will also operate a U14 boys and a U13 boys and girls squads this year, the idea being to serve as a feeder system.
The plan is to keep two or three university of college players during the season to mentor some of the graduates from those programs so they’ll be ready to step into bigger roles in August. On Friday, Jamar Kelly, Mike Pio, goalie Kyle Vizirakis and Celso Carapau gave full-season commitments to the club, which must have four players under age 23 on the field at all times. That group joins a core that includes St. Clair College grad Korede Adepitan, Martin Torres, Brendan Teeling, Leonardo Ferreira DaSilva, Brandon Woodall, Stefan Milidrag and former Macedonia striker Nameer Sto. “We love those (development) programs and want to develop, but we want a bunch of guys training together and working together for an entire season,” Cirovski said. “Some (of those guys) are from the local leagues and want a chance to prove themselves.
“For us to compete and win the league, it’s going to take investment. Everything has to be in place, but we’re giving kids an opportunity. We can compete, but we can’t compete if our roster isn’t consistent.”
The 17-team league has also created a little more intrigue for fans. The two-division system has been eliminated.
Where the two division winners used to meet for the title, eight teams will now qualify for the playoffs.
“They’ve realigned the whole league, so it’s one table, like in Europe, and not two divisions,” Piatkiewicz said.
“It’s a nice setup. It gives you a bigger opportunity to make the playoffs.”