MONTREAL – As part of its Scouting and Development Centre (CIP), CF Montréal announced on Thursday the addition of its newest partner club, Lakeshore SC.
In doing so, CF Montréal's Academy is joining forces with the West Island's largest amateur club. The new partnership will further strengthen a long-standing and extensive collaboration between the two organizations as two CF Montréal first team players, defender Alistair Johnston and goalkeeper James Pantemis, made their amateur debuts with the club at youth levels.
Ahead of Lakeshore’s integration into the program, Johnston and Pantemis offered a few words of welcome to the entire Lakeshore SC organization.
“Lakeshore is one of the biggest clubs in Quebec with a pool of talented players. Adding Lakeshore to our CIP family can only help improve the network,” said CF Montréal Academy Director of Youth Development Marinos Papageorgopoulos. “I am pleased with the progress made by this program so far and with the quality of our partner clubs.”
“Lakeshore SC is excited and proud to announce this new partnership with CF Montréal. We intend to make the most of it by learning from the very best coaches and players this province has to offer,” added Lakeshore SC Director General Kelly-Anne Soutter-Burns. “We welcome this wonderful opportunity to partner with a great professional organization.”
As CF Montréal has sought to establish a more sustained collaboration plan with its partners, the Scouting and Development program was revised in 2021. This new consultative partnership formula allows participating clubs like Lakeshore SC to take full advantage of the Club’s resources, both at the technical and administrative levels, including weekly on-site visits. Partner clubs also have exclusive access to CF Montréal activities and initiatives such as tournaments, camps, and technical competitions.
Last fall, FC Laval and the Brossard Soccer Association joined the redesigned Scouting and Development Centre, joining FC Loro and CS St-Lazare Hudson.
Launched July 2, 2019, the Scouting and Development Centre is a high-performance development and identification program developed by the Club’s Academy and its educators. The initiative includes visits with partner clubs and is part of a broader desire to share the Academy's knowledge, training, and methodologies in order to strengthen ties with the Quebec soccer community.
