Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian ...

, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma players have gone on to play

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

soccer on scholarships.

History

Sigma was formed in 2005 by Constantine and

Bobby Smyrniotis Haralambos "Bobby" Smyrniotis (born April 24, 1979) is a Canadian soccer coach and former player who works as head coach of Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League. Smyrniotis is the co-founder of the Sigma FC soccer academy based in Mississau ...

as a private academy aimed to develop young Canadian soccer players. Over the years Sigma have sent players from their academy to the NCAA and to trials overseas. When

was formed in early 2014, Sigma announced they would be entering their senior academy team to compete as part of inaugural season. They were one of the three

Ontario Soccer Association The Ontario Soccer Association, founded in 1901, is one of the oldest and largest sport organizations in Canada. The OSA currently has more than 500,000 registered participants and provides development opportunities for players, coaches, refere ...

Recognized Non-Club Academies permitted to enter a team in the league, along with

ANB Futbol ANB Futbol was a Canadian semi-professional association football, soccer club based in King, Ontario, King, Ontario. The club was founded in 2007, as a soccer academy, and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The club wa ...

and

Master's FA Master's Futbol Academy, commonly known as Master's FA, is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario. The club was founded in 2009 as a soccer academy and added its team in the semi-professional League1 Ontar ...

. The Mississauga-based League1 Ontario teams - Sigma FC and

North Mississauga SC North Mississauga Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Mississauga, Ontario. The club was founded in 1982 as a youth soccer club and added its men's semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2016. The team plays ...

(and formerly the now-Brampton-based

ProStars FC Prostars FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Brampton, Ontario. The organization was founded in 2013. The club plays in the semi-professional League1 Ontario, part of the third division in the Canadian soccer league system in both the men's an ...

) - compete annually for the Credit River Cup, awarded by the Sauga City Collective supporters group, with the team's matches against each other during the L1O deciding the victor. Sigma made news in January 2015 when academy player

Cyle Larin Cyle Christopher Larin (; born April 17, 1995) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Belgian First Division A team Club Brugge and the Canada national team. After playing college soccer for the UConn Huskies, La ...

was drafted first overall by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

club Orlando City at the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held January ...

. This was the first time a Canadian went first overall in an

MLS draft This is a list of Major League Soccer drafts. Types of Major League Soccer drafts include the MLS SuperDraft, the MLS Supplemental Draft and the MLS Expansion Draft. Inaugural Draft *1996 MLS Inaugural Allocations *1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draf ...

. On October 1, 2018, Sigma co-founder Bobby Smyrniotis was named head coach and technical director of

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

club

Forge FC Forge FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadian soccer. The club plays its home matches at Tim Hortons Field. Forge FC joined the CPL in 2019 as ...

. Bobby had served as technical director and first team head coach of Sigma from 2005 to 2018. 16 members of Forge's 2019 roster had played for Sigma in the past.

Seasons

Notable players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 Ontario team:

References

External links

* {{Toronto Sports Soccer clubs in Ontario League1 Ontario teams Sport in Mississauga 2005 establishments in Ontario