The 2024 CPL–U Sports Draft was the sixth annual CPL–U Sports Draft. Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 16 eligible U Sports soccer players to be invited to their respective preseason camps with the opportunity to earn development contracts for the 2024 Canadian Premier League season.
Format Players could be selected if they had one to four years of U Sports eligibility remaining, were in good academic standing, were planning to return to school the following year, and completed the CPL's draft declaration form by December 5, 2023. On December 6, the CPL released the list of 203 athletes who declared for the draft. Players who were selected can sign a full professional contract or a U Sports development contract, which allows them to return to university for the following season, without losing their eligibility.
Teams were able to retain the rights to previously drafted players who had signed U Sports contracts. In total, seven players were retained by their CPL clubs.
Each CPL team made two selections in the draft with selections made in the reverse order of the previous season's standings, including playoffs and final standings. Teams may trade selections; on draft day, Vancouver FC traded the 10th overall selection to Cavalry FC in exchange for the 15th overall selection and future considerations. These future considerations eventually became Canadian winger Ben Fisk who transferred from Cavalry to Vancouver on January 9, 2024.
Player selection *Denotes player who has signed a professional contract for the 2024 season ^Denotes player who has signed a developmental contract for the 2024 season †Denotes player who has signed a short-term contract for a part of the 2024 season--> The following players were selected:
Round 1 Pick # CPL team Player Position Nationality University Last team/academy 1 Valour FC Owen Sheppard FW Canada Cape Breton 2 Vancouver FC Luke Norman MF Canada British ColumbiaWhitecaps FC Academy (L1BC) 3 Atlético Ottawa Luca Piccioli MF Canada CarletonMontreal Impact Academy (U19) 4 York United FC Christian Zeppieri MF Canada YorkVaughan Azzurri (L1O) 5 HFX Wanderers FC Daniel Clarke GK England Cape BretonWoodbridge Strikers (L1O) 6 Pacific FC Michael Maslanka FW Canada Toronto 7 Cavalry FC Caden Rogozinski DF Canada Mount RoyalCalgary Foothills FC (L1AB) 8 Forge FC Mouhamed Ndiaye MF Canada UQTR
Round 2 Pick # CPL team Player Position Nationality University Last team/academy 9 Valour FC Gianfranco Facchineri DF Canada WindsorWindsor City FC (L1O) 10 Cavalry FC (from Vancouver FC) Rodane Cato MF Canada Alberta 11 Atlético Ottawa Samuel LaPlante DF Canada UQTRCS Saint-Hubert (L1QC) 12 York United FC Jason Hartill MF Canada Cape BretonToronto FC Academy (MLS Next) 13 HFX Wanderers FC Max Bodurtha MF Canada St. Francis XavierWhitecaps FC Academy (L1BC) 14 Pacific FC Ibrahem Saadi DF Canada Western 15 Vancouver FC (from Cavalry FC) Thomas Powell MF Canada Trinity WesternUnity FC (L1BC) 16 Forge FC Amadou Kone FW Canada CarletonOttawa South United (L1QC)
Notes
Selection statistics
Draftees by nationality RankCountrySelections 1 15 2 1
Draftees by university Rank University Selections 1 Cape Breton University 3 2 Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières 2 Carleton University 2 4 9 universities 1
References