Homegrown talent the model for FC

FC London has adopted a development model that produces its League1 players almost exclusively locally – and the strategy is working.

Jade Kovacevic, a three-time Golden Boot trophy winner (League1 top scorer), has helped FC London’s women’s team win three titles in their last four seasons. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography)

It’s all about the ‘pathway.’

Ninety-five percent of FC London players hail from the city. That’s not the case for many League1 Ontario teams, who recruit players from other centres to compete in the province’s top summer league. But FC London players are almost exclusively homegrown.

That’s by design, says Mike Marcoccia, the club’s head coach. Through the FC London Academy, the organization has created a true ‘pathway’ for players to progress through youth soccer (from the U8 level) to the semi-pro league – and potentially beyond.

“I really love working with players over an extended period of time, and we store a lot of faith in that model,” says Marcoccia, 34, who coaches both FC London’s men’s and women’s League1 teams. “Some players need more time [to develop] and really break out of their shell.”

It would be hard to argue the strategy isn’t working. In 2019, FC London’s women’s team won a league championship, giving them an impressive three titles in four years. This time it was a 1-0 win over the Oakville Blue Devils in the final, which capped off a perfect playoff run that included plenty of regular season revenge against top rivals.

Jade Kovacevic led the way – as she’s done since she first time she put on an FC London uniform. The three-time Golden Boot trophy winner (League1 top scorer) notched 21 goals in 12 regular season games in 2019 – and another eight in the playoffs, including three straight in the first leg of the semis and the lone goal in the final.

Three weeks later, in late September, the men’s side also reached their league final – and in surprising fashion. Despite a mediocre regular season record (8-6-1), and a No. 7 rank entering the postseason (the second-to-last spot), the team rose to the occasion in the playoffs, going 3-1-1 while playing their best soccer of the season. They nearly captured a title themselves, ultimately falling to Scarborough’s Masters FA in the final.

One league title and two finals appearances. And they did it with nearly all London-born and raised players.

In fact, a half-dozen FC London players have even been with Marcoccia since his first coaching gig seven years ago, when he led a U15 girls team and a U18 boys team within AG London, prior to the birth of FC London (in 2016).

“Almost everyone’s been here from day one,” says Marcoccia, who began coaching FC’s women’s team five years ago and took over the men’s side two years ago. “It’s nice having those players come into preseason knowing exactly what we’re talking about. We get to work on new things right away.”

Though a schedule has yet to be released for the 2021 season (the entire 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19), teams are busy preparing for the new year on the pitch – whatever that may look like. For Marcoccia, that means rebuilding the rosters, which will feature new additions on both squads.

“We lose a certain number of players every year who go on to different levels or retire,” the coach says. “Right now, we’re doing a lot of work evaluating players to decide who we’re going to sign … players from last year’s squad, as well as incoming (local) recruits and youth team players that are coming up through the system.”

Both teams have a solid core of returning talent. The women will welcome back Marisa Oliveira, Julia Benati, Angelika Mihalopulos, Meghan Scott, Kaila Novak and goalkeeper Emily Gillet. They’ll also have Kovacevic, their superstar, who has spent time playing pro in Italy and whose skills are at the level of a senior national team member.

“We always get a good laugh because sometimes people forget about Jade in the offseason, because she moves back to Toronto with her family and takes a little break from soccer. But then she comes back and breaks records,” Marcoccia said. “We’ve got her on a home program, and she always works her butt off.”

The men, meanwhile, will return captain Randy Ribeiro (who serves as an assistant coach on the women’s side), Ethan Gopaul, Bradley Heath and Connor Wilson, to name a few. Wilson finished second in the league in scoring in 2019 with 11 goals (and added another five in the playoffs).

“He’s developing into such a fantastic player,” his coach says.

And, of course, there will be pleasant surprises for Marcoccia, which he says happens every year, where a player or two drastically raises the level of their game.

“Having a player for one season is not enough,” he says. “There are players I’ve had for four years who didn’t play a single minute the first three and then, all of a sudden, they’re one of the best players.”

The coach chalks that up to the Club’s system, and to FC London’s Academy program, which promotes a culture of consistent teaching and instruction in developing young talent from within.

After all, it’s all about the ‘pathway.’