Tracking the development paths of Toronto FC’s local talent

TFC’s roster includes 12 players from the Greater Toronto Area. How did they get there?

Toronto FC joined Major League Soccer as an expansion team in 2007, and have been playing out of BMO Field at Exhibition Place ever since.

But they’re not just Toronto’s team by geography. It’s also roster makeup.

In TFC’s 16-year history — which includes one MLS Cup and eight Canadian Championships — they’ve featured a ton of local talent. That includes the likes of Scarborough native Dwayne de Rosario, who led the club in scoring with 14 and 17 goals in their third and fourth seasons.

The 2022 squad is no exception in this regard, boasting 12 players from the Greater Toronto Area. As an MLS roster is comprised of up to 30 players, that means a full 40 per cent of TFC is made up of players who grew up and honed their skills a long-ish stone’s throw from the club’s home field.

But it begs the question: Where in the GTA are these players from, and is there a typical development path?

Where are TFC’s GTA players from?

The dozen locals currently on the Reds’ roster span several municipalities in the GTA:

As you can see in the table above, Brampton is remarkably well represented, sending five players to the TFC roster — an equal number to the City of Toronto itself. That’s even more impressive when you consider the population disparity between the two places — 656,480 for Brampton and 2,794,356 for Toronto, as of the 2021 census.

That Brampton contingent is highlighted by Jonathan Osorio, who joined TFC in 2013 and now holds the club record for appearances. As of Aug. 8, 2022, he’d played in 255 matches and scored 41 goals.

The roster also features some Durham Regional Municipality representation, with one player each from Ajax and Pickering.

What’s the local pipeline like?

All but one of the players on the list above — Scarborough-born goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh, who signed with the team in January after several other pro stops — spent time at Toronto FC Academy, the MLS club’s youth development system.

Housed in a facility at Downsview Park, the academy was founded in 2008, and has divisions ranging from under-14 to under-19. The various age-group teams play in MLS Next — a league founded in 2020.

Prior to that pivotal academy step, there doesn’t seem to be a typical starting point for a homegrown TFC player. For proof on that, check out the visualization accompanying this story, which shows GTA-based development stops for all 12 locals.

All that said, one youth club has produced a fair share of the current talent: Brampton Soccer Club features prominently on the development journeys of several of TFC’s players. A group amalgamated from the former Brampton Youth Soccer Club and Brampton East Soccer Club in 2019, it has sent many players on to TFC, MLS, and the Canadian men’s national team.

Elsewhere, Ajax Soccer Club has seen two current TFC players — DeAndre Kerr and Mark-Anthony Kaye — pass through its ranks.

Several other youth clubs — including Kleinburg Nobleton Soccer Club, Vaughan Soccer Club, and West Toronto Soccer Club — have seen one.

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