Priestley leads Master's Academy to first League1 soccer title
December 17, 2019
Languishing in the League1 Ontario semi-professional soccer league the last few years, Master’s Futbol Academy (MFA) was looking for a spark.
Former Jamaican international Akeem Priestley provided the boost to the Pickering-based team that posted just 22 wins in its first five seasons and finished bottom-of-the-table in 2015 and 2016 with a combined four victories while using the prestigious league to showcase its top players to university scouts.
Making the play-offs for the first time this year with nine wins, three losses and three ties, Priestley played a major role in helping the team clinch its first title with a hat-trick in a convincing 4-1 win over FC London in the championship game.
With six appearances for the Jamaican senior team and professional stints in Guatemala, El Salvador, Finland, Bangladesh and Azerbaijan, Priestley – as the club’s most experienced player – knew expectations were high for him to lead from the front.
He unhesitatingly accepted the challenge.
“When I came to the Greater Toronto Area in March 2018 to take up residence, I was looking for a club to connect with,” said the 34-year-old winger who played collegiately at Jackson University and the University of Connecticut and was drafted by the Kansas City Wizards in the 2009 Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft. “I was fortunate to hook up with Junior (Hubert Groves) who played for Harbour View which was my club team back in Jamaica. I liked the vibes and energy even though there was an adjustment period as it took a little while for me to get to know the other players’ strengths and weaknesses and for them to get an idea of what I could do to help the team. Soccer is universal and the ball does the talking. After a while, we clicked as a team.”
Adversity struck a few games into the season, threatening to derail the team.
A total of five players left for another club.
“Luckily for us, it happened early in the season and we were able to regroup,” said Priestley who represented CSC Mississauga in the Canadian Soccer League last season. “The new players that came in fitted in well with what we were doing and that really enabled us to overcome the bump in the road.”
On the way to the final in the 16-team tournament, MFA brushed aside Sigma FC and two-time champions Oakville Blue Devils in the two-leg format.
Priestley said the team was prepared for the championship game.
“Everyone was focussed and I could sense something special was going to happen,” said the team’s highest paid player and Wolmer’s graduate.
Registering a hat-trick for the first time in front of friends and family that included his five-year-old son and his dad – Denis Priestley also played for Harbour View – was even more satisfying.
Former Jamaican international Akeem Priestley
As the architect of the franchise and Master Trainer, Groves felt the club was at a point where it was ready for success.
“We went into this season prepared to win with a talented group and strong coaching from former Trinidad professional player Rick Titus and ex-Jamaica youth representative Devon Porter,” he said. “The past four seasons were spent promoting our young players because they were playing in a very visible league that could showcase them to university coaches. With the league adding a Men’s Under-21 Reserve division this year that allowed me to put my university prospects there, opportunities were created for me to combine senior players with a few upper echelon youth players. That was our approach this year and it worked.”
A disagreement between MFA and a sponsor led to the backer plucking five players out the club.
“That left us in a precarious position as we had to seek out sponsors for the replacements,” said Groves who has been in Canada since 1983. “We have players who are struggling financially and we feel they should be paid to play.”
Since 2017, the League1 Ontario champions qualify for the Canadian Championship that’s contested by the country’s premier professional teams, including defending champions Montreal Impact and seven-time winners Toronto FC which lost 3-1 to the Seattle Sounders in this year’s Major League (MLS) championship game.
In addition to the $5,000 cash prize for winning League1, MFA will receive an $11,000 travel stipend from Ontario Soccer to assist with their participation in the Canadian Championship organized by the Canadian Soccer Association.
“We have 35 players, coaches and management staff who will be travelling and we have to get sponsorship to cover the 2020 League1 season and the Canadian Championship budget,” he added. “We have a good track record that includes a provincial championship which should be a good selling point.”
Groves has invested a significant amount of time, effort and money in MFA founded in 2009.
Hubert ‘Junior’ Groves
Prior to becoming a soccer coach and academy owner, the 1981-82 Jamaica Soccer Player of the Year captained Harbour View, won a full soccer scholarship in 1982 to attend Cheyney State University in Pennsylvania and played professionally for Panhellenic Olympic Football Club in the National Soccer League. The Greek club won the title in 1983.
After coaching in the provincial rep system with Pickering Soccer Club since 1999, Groves became concerned that local clubs weren’t helping talented players from challenged communities acquire scholarships. As a result, he gave up a 23-year career as an information technology executive to start MFA to help develop players and provide them with opportunities to be showcased to American and local university coaches for scholarships.
Over 215 student athletes have attended American universities on scholarships since then. Graduates include Groves’ son, Matthew, who completed Psychology & Sociology degree studies at Duquesne University in 2010 and played professionally in Italy, England, Portugal, Serbia and Malta.
In 2007, Groves purchased a 5.8-acre farm on the Scarborough/Pickering border that was transformed into an indoor soccer training centre.
“I wanted a place where I could take players off the streets and give them a safe haven to train at a high level,” the Holy Ground Tabernacle pastor noted. “The other thing is when I get a call from a coach who wants to see a player workout, I don’t have to go and find a facility.”
Last month, eight MFA Under-16 boys were part of the Lanka FC team that took part in the inaugural Barcelona Golden Cup six-team youth tournament in Spain.
MFA has 10 teams with over 160 players.
Two years ago, Del Wilkinson answered Groves’ call to help coach the youth teams.
Del Wilkinson
“When you look at what Junior is doing to help young people get scholarships and a career, it was hard for me to turn down his request,” said the 70-year-old former Masters Soccer League striker who left Excelsior in 1961 and completed high school in England before migrating to Canada in 1970.
Individuals and organizations interested in sponsoring MFA players in next year’s League1 and Canadian Championship can contact Groves at (416) 452-8271 or by email at junior_groves@hotmail.com.
