The Electric City Football Club (ECFC) has launched their League 1 Ontario men’s and women’s 2023 reserve teams, in partnership with FC Durham Academy announced on Thursday.
Durham and ECFC are eager to further invest in the affiliation formed during ECFC’s inaugural 2022 season and continue cultivating high-quality opportunities for players in the East region according to a press release.
Amongst this past season’s FC Durham Academy talent, were Caylan Lawrence and Rylee Traicoff, both scoring goals for ECFC’s Men’s and Women’s Teams respectively.
FC Durham Academy co-owners Tom Croft and Rich Hirst are bringing a combined 70 years of coaching experience.
“We are excited to expand our partnership with ECFC in 2023,” said Croft. “This will allow FC Durham to enhance our role in the High-Performance Pathway in Ontario, providing consistent challenges and opportunity for our players in our Post-Formation Phase U17 and older.”
Nick Kassermelli and Hirst are head coaches with the ECFC League 1 Men U21 and Women’s Reserve Teams respectively. Hirst will also assume the role of Assistant Coach with the ECFC League 1 Women’s Premier Team.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with FC Durham for the 2023 season. FC Durham is a constant in developing youth players that we have seen move onto post-secondary institutions and to even higher levels year after year,” said Randy Riberio, ECFC head coach. “We were very pleased with the quality of players that we were able to bring into first team training last season and even had some standout performances in quite a few L1 Premier matches on both our Men’s and Women’s teams in 2022. We look forward to fielding ECFC’s first ever Reserve Men’s and Women’s teams in partnership with FC Durham next season.”
ECFC is hosting their Men’s Open Tryouts on Monday at Wet ‘n’ Wild Dome in Brampton. Further details about women’s tryouts will be announced.