It was also a chance to gain exposure from various NCAA D1 coaches. Among them was a coach from Drexel University, who travelled from Philadelphia to watch the games.
“The team had a great experience playing in NJ versus two very strong opponents,” said Academy Director Bryan Cerqueira. “The boys represented the club and themselves well. This was a great opportunity to meet with Clint, our US college coordinator, and to showcase their skills for coaches from the area.”
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NYA played two games on the trip, and they faced tough opponents in both. The first game saw NYA fall to U18 Cedar Stars Academy Newark 3-1, with Lucas Negrao netting for North York.
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In the second game, NYA played hard but came up just short, losing 1-0 to U17 Cedar Stars Academy Bergen MLS NXT.
Regardless of the scorelines, there were many positive takeaways from the trip. “In this particular showcase event, our athletes were able to show their skills in an American context,” explains coach Joao Aragao.
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“It allows them to open doors to their futures, keeping the dream of continuing to play soccer but not forgetting their academic development. In my opinion, this type of event has only positives.”
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More photos from the trip can be found here.
High Performance Group travel to New Jersey for
NCAA exposure opportunity
North York Academy’s High Performance group recently travelled to New Jersey to train and play in a set of friendly matches. The team came up against strong competition as they took on two teams from the Cedar Stars Academy.
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The team trained at St. Benedict's Preparatory School on Friday night, while the games took place on Saturday and Sunday at Fairleigh Dickinson University, an NCAA Division 1 school. They were a chance for North York Academy players to test themselves against another high-level academy and get experience playing in a new environment.