Colin Gander (born January 12, 2000) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a defender for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

League2 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a Semi-professional sports, semi-professional men's association football, soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Onta ...

Early life

In his youth, Gander played youth soccer with Kitchener SC, later joining the

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the Youth system, youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, which competes in MLS Next. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 ...

College/University career

In 2019, Gander began attending

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

, where he joined the men's soccer team, although he

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

the 2019-20

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

season. In 2020, Gander transferred to the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

joining the men's soccer team. However, his inaugural season was delayed until the 2021-22 school year, as the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He scored his first goal on October 22, against the

Brock Badgers The Brock Badgers are the athletics teams that represent Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. To date, the Badgers have won 47 National Championships and 94 Ontario Championships, and are members of the OUA, U Sports, CUFLA, CURC, OIWFA ...

. In the 2021–22 season, he won the OUA title. In 2023, Gander began his MBA at the

Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

joining the TMU Bold, men's soccer team.

Club career

In 2017 and 2018, he played with Toronto FC III in League1 Ontario. In 2020, he trained with Toronto Skillz FC. In 2021, he played with Guelph United F.C. At the 2022 CPL-U Sports Draft, Gander was selected in the second round (eleventh overall) by the HFX Wanderers FC, HFX Wanderers. In April 2022, he signed a developmental contract with the Wanderers, which allows him to maintain his university eligibility. He made his debut on April 16, coming on as a substitute against Atlético Ottawa. In mid-August, as part of his developmental contract, he departed the team to return to play for his university. In 2023, he returned to Guelph United FC. He then re-signed with the team for the 2024 season.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gander, Colinb 2000 births Living people Soccer players from Kitchener, Ontario Men's association football defenders Canadian Premier League players League1 Ontario players Canadian men's soccer players Toronto FC players Toronto Skillz FC players HFX Wanderers FC players HFX Wanderers FC draft picks Guelph United F.C. players Guelph Gryphons men's soccer players Toronto FC Academy players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen University and college men's soccer players in Canada Cambridge United (Canada) players