Photo: Academy facility construction photo taken late January.
Construction continues on the Toronto FC Academy & Training Facility and according to Paul Beirne, they are on time.
TFC’s senior director of business operations said “it will be completed in May, the first team and Academy moves in this June.”
Beirne continued that the “training ground is unlike any facility in North America. Our only purpose is for the continued development of Canada’s best football talent.”
With bricks and mortar come new teams and programs that will go to the heart of player development, both for the Academy and the general community.
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In that vein, TFC opened its summer Academy Programs to the public last week to some anticipation. A couple of the programs have already sold out.
Academy director Thomas Rongen, who is a career servant and teacher of the beautiful game, is excited at the prospects of reaching beyond the Academy to tutor Toronto’s youth.
Using the available programs, Rongen aims to instill “soccer intelligence” the way it was taught to him at the famed grounds of Ajax in Holland. With intelligence comes skill and discipline, two important aspects of the programs.
“We want to offer youngsters a place to optimize the learning process, motivate and create leaders with performance related skills and age and level appropriate learning objectives,” Rongen revealed.
“Toronto FC will provide the best coaching in Canada.”
Two of those coaching resources in the TFC camp are former professional players Jim Brennan and Danny Dichio.
It warms Brennan’s heart as a Torontonian to see a high level professional outfit providing players of all levels a chance to make progress in sport and life through local soccer.
“This is a great opportunity for young kids to come showcase their skills and enjoy playing the game they love,” the former TFC captain, and current Academy coach said recently.
“They will be getting first class training at a world class facility.”
TFC has spent $20 million on the Downsview digs and Brennan explained the investment has been made in the Aron Winter era of the club because “at TFC we demand the best and we provide the best.”
Fellow coach Dichio, a transplanted Englishman and TFC hero who now calls Toronto his home, went a step further saying, “This is a great program for our Academy Staff to find any un-touched gems that might be out there at the grass roots level.”
The great thing about the Academy Programs is that it’s open to all. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn at a high level, while having some fun along the way in and around a facility that will quickly become the envy of youth development in North America.
