April 18, 2023 – MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro) – Toronto FC II News Release
Ahead of the start of the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro season, Toronto FC II announced the signing of four players from the TFC Academy: midfielders Luca Accettola and Markus Cimermancic, defender Kundai Mawoko, and goalkeeper Adisa De Rosario.
To long-time watchers of Toronto FC, one of those names stands out – Adisa is the son of TFC legend Dwayne De Rosario – but the former captain is a proud papa twice over, helping two of those young men take another step down the pathway to achieving their soccer dreams.
Right-back Kundai Mawoko, 18, is the first player from the DeRo TFC Academy to sign a professional contract at the club.
“Oh, definitely, definitely,” smiled Dwayne De Rosario through the phone on Thursday. “I treat all of my students as my own child; I give them the same advice.”
“Super proud to see Kundai, one of the originals that came to our program when we first started, to see him develop alongside my son,” he continued. “It gives me great pride to know that these kids are taking the game to the next level. And, for me, that is success.”
That was the hope back when the DeRo United Futbol Academy began in 2012.
“The focus was to create a pathway for kids who have ambition to take the game to the next level,” De Rosario explained. “It stemmed from my foundation and working with kids, doing one-on-one development training, and it expanded.”
“We decided, before I retired, to take another step forward and start the academy in the east where these kinds of infrastructures, opportunities were lacking,” he continued. “I wanted to do my part to help facilitate that.”
In 2021, the academy became an official affiliate of the Toronto FC Academy as DeRo TFC, the regional partner in Durham.
“We start as young as five now,” De Rosario detailed. “We have a pre-academy development program and go right up to U-18. Our focus is to develop young men before we develop the athlete. I take great pride in that, developing the individual, teaching them the importance of respect, discipline, character, and being a team player and what that’s about. As well we focus heavily on nutrition, strength and conditioning, and we try to really use the sports platform to teach these very important life lessons.”
“The next component is creating the athlete,” he continued. “We focus on individual development more than team development because we are getting our players ready for the next phase, the next chapter. As you’ve…
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