The 2007 Super-20 League Men’s Semifinals. The 2008 Super-20 League Men’s Final. The 2011 Super-20 League Men’s Final.
The Toronto Lynx Jrs. have been as close to winning the Super-20 League Championship in the past few years as anyone, but have yet to accomplish it.
This year’s goal?“To win the whole thing,” Coach Duncan Wilde said.
Toronto finished the 2010 and 2011 Super-20 League seasons behind the Crew Juniors in the Midwest Division, including a second-place finish in 2011. Wilde, Technical Director of the Toronto Lynx and head coach of the Men’s Super-20 League team, believes the benchmark is set by the Crew, current back-to-back champions.
“They’re a great outfit,” he said. “It’s a great rivalry. The Crew Under-20 team are probably as strong as half the PDL [USL’s Premier Development League] teams out there. It’s well-coached, well organized, and you’ve really got to be on your game to be on that level. We’re certainly in a little different financial spot, for sure, but we’re trying to compete at that level. We do give them a very good game and we’ll play them again this season.
“I don’t think they’ve lost a game for two years. It’s a very high-tempo game. I think we’re close to it; but I’m sure everyone else thinks the same way. That’s what makes the Super-20 League a competitive league.”
The Toronto Lynx organization is different than many other Super-20 League clubs in that it keeps players year-round, as opposed to the summer months only. The Lynx do not bring in players from other clubs, either, and are built for showcasing the older players to the NCAA.
“From going to U17 and going to school for [the player’s] first year, and making the jump to PDL or the W-League, we think, is too big for the majority of players,” Wilde said. “The U20 program works perfectly for us; [it is] a very similar environment and gives us an opportunity to work alongside [our PDL team].”
Wilde, who also coaches the Toronto Lynx of the PDL, said that there is a bigger pool from which the organization can choose players. The Lynx have added an Under-21 team to compete in an Ontario provincial league, to get their players even more playing time.
“We’re going to use that league here mainly for our 17s and 18s and then bring the better players from them with our returning freshman and sophomore players and try to stack a strong U20 program.
“We’re going to try to give the Super-20 League this year a run,” he said.
Wilde is also comfortable in calling up players from the younger age groups and thinks they are up for the challenge. Having a larger player pool will also help keep his players fresh, an advantage he thinks makes a difference in the championships.
“We had played the day before [the 2011 Super-20 League Men’s Final],” he said. “Unfortunately for us, we went to extra time and penalties, and then went a goal down in the third minute of the Final against the Crew the following day. We were a little banged up.”
The Super-20 League team has lost a few juniors, seniors, and graduates, who have since moved on to the PDL squad, but is a serious contender in the Midwest Division once again. The Lynx and Crew Juniors are not the only teams in the division, however, and Coach Wilde knows that any one of the teams in his division could make it to the Finals.
“It’s a very difficult group,” he said. “We have Alliance Academy, which is the No. 1-ranked boy’s academy. Their 17s are all jumping into the Super-20 [League]. We have the two Cincinnati clubs (Kings Soccer Academy, Cincinnati United Premier).
“The level of competition, especially in the Midwest Division, is very, very strong. We’re hoping to have some success.”
The Midwest Division of the Super-20 Men’s League is set to kick off in late May, when the Toronto Lynx Jrs. will start their campaign to reach the 2012 Super-20 League North American Finals.