Ontario Soccer announced the rosters for the 2024 Ontario Provincial Xcel Teams earlier in the week.

We are very proud to announce three Rush players, Anthony Cepo, Luke Cepo and Ava Ticconi were selected to a roster plus another player, Nicola Kostic, who left us at the end of last season to a different club, was also selected. Nicola was with our 2008 team last season and was selected to attend the trials by our Rush Coaching staff.

Provincial Xcel team selections take place over the course of a calendar year, where players are identified through the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL), or through Talent on Location Days (ToLD) for players who are not competing in the talented pathway.

The Provincial Xcel Program’s key goals include:

1. To provide players with an inspirational experience in the Provincial program to ignite their ambition to represent Canada at the international level
2. Talent Identification and benchmarking of player performance through quality competition 
3. Provide the opportunity for possible new Ontario players to be selected for future Regional & National EXCEL Environments
4. Provide opportunity for the top Ontario players to be exposed to more post-secondary opportunities, locally and abroad, in a best with best environment

With the rosters now selected, the teams move into a preparation stage, training with the Provincial Xcel coaching staff, which is a blend of former experienced Xcel coaches like Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt and new coaches like former Canadian Premier League Coach, and former National Team and Toronto FC player, Jimmy Brennan. The teams then move onto the Provincial Xcel Showcase, which pit Xcel squads against top-level competition in their respective age groups.

We would like to wish the players the best of luck.