CPL Starts Tomorrow on CBC

I'm almost getting goosebumps thinking about the inaugural match in the Canadian Premier League. I'm only 25 so I was no where near alive when leagues like the NHL, NBA or even the NFL were in their infancy.

Can we just call tomorrow Soccer Day in Canada?

The new league will give Canada soccer a spring board to succeed in the future. Seven teams, from coast to coast will be apart of the inaugural season. To be honest, I don't care that the worst team in the MLS could beat the best team in the CPL 6-0 or something. This is big!

For the record, I'm a anti CFL fan. Soccer is different. There are easily over 100 leagues in the world and all of them should have significance. I would love to go to a Lithuanian club soccer game because the winner of that league goes to the  UEFA Champions League where the best teams in Europe play.

This might be a bit optimistic but if there was ever a merger between Concacaf and South America that maybe one day the CPL champion gets to go to the Copa Libertadores.

As for the present, I'm stoked to see the CPL grow. The seven team league should do wonders for soccer not only for the National team but also for the grass roots of the game despite seven being an odd number.

Stadiums and locations[edit]

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Cavalry FC	Foothills County, Alberta	Spruce Meadows	6,000
FC Edmonton	Edmonton, Alberta	Clarke Stadium	5,100
Forge FC	Hamilton, Ontario	Tim Hortons Field	10,016
HFX Wanderers FC	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Wanderers Grounds	6,200
Pacific FC	Langford, British Columbia	Westhills Stadium	6,500
Valour FC	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Investors Group Field	33,234
York 9 FC	Toronto, Ontario	York Lions Stadium	8,000

Next year, I hope there are eight next year and 10 the year after that. Relegation should be possible by 2026 and given that Canada is a Commonwealth country I could see the CPL implementing relegation one day.

What I love about the list of cities that have already been awarded a team is that these cities aren't the seven biggest cities in Canada and therefore, this gives a lot of other cities hope that they can be rewarded with an expansion team in the future.

Biggest news of the last month was that CBC will be broadcasting a handful of games for the season which is huge news. I have been waiting for this day for a long time and I can't believe it is finally here.

In 60 years, I want these seven teams to be an answer to a trivia question  just like the original six are to the NHL.