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Pathway To Pro: "The Foothills Way"

Pathway To Pro: "The Foothills Way"

For players with interest, determination, and talent, Foothills provides a pathway for aspiring players to reach their full potential and achieve their goals of playing in top leagues across Canada and internationally. We inspire the next generation of soccer stars by setting a strong example and promoting the importance of hard work and dedication.

What Makes Our PATHWAY TO PRO different?

Foothills has the exclusive and only pathway system that has a US Based Pro-team (UWS) and is the official development system of a Canadian Professional League team (the Cavalry FC.) Ours is Calgary’s (arguably the country’s) most successful program.

  • Foothills has a clear vision for the future of soccer in Canada. We have a seat at the table at the highest level in the country and are working closely with governing bodies to lead Canada’s success in soccer on the world stage.

  • We are Canada’s most successful club based on national results, having brought home eight national gold medals.

  • Most recently, our pro-am men's team, Foothills FC, won the 2023 League1 Alberta Championship. This is especially exciting as 2023 was the League's inaugural year.

  • In the 2022 post-secondary soccer season, Foothills had 107 athletes participate for their university and college teams. In 2023, that number increased to 116, which is more than any other youth club in Canada. 


  • We provide exceptional resources for male and female players, including world-class training centres, and top-rated technical staff and coaches.

    • Our technical staff includes professionally qualified (Canadian and European licensed) managers for every age group. These experts bring extensive player experience, having participated in university and professional environments. 

    • We have two world-class training facilities: 

      - The Macron Performance Centre; and 

      - The Foothills Skills Centre

       

    • Foothills is the only club in Alberta to offer full-time video analysis and sports science capabilities.

    • According to Wikipedia, many Foothills FC players and Foothills Academy alums have moved on to professional clubs. These include Victor Loturi and Aribim Pepple, who both moved from Cavalry FC to Ross County and Luton Town, respectively.

    • The 2022 Canada World Cup squad included two Foothills alum (Joel Waterman and Sam Adekugbe), and the 2023 Gold Cup roster included two Foothills alum (Victor Loturi and Dominick Zator.)

Foothills Founded the Canadian Premier League's Cavalry FC 

Foothills was instrumental in establishing Calgary’s professional men’s soccer team, Cavalry FC. Through our best-in-class programs and relationships at the highest level of Canadian soccer, we honed an elite group of players prepared to participate in the CPL competitively. In 2018, we attracted an investor thanks in no small part to our PATHWAY TO PRO program (not to mention the Club’s well-earned reputation) and officially joined the CPL. Foothills and Cavalry have maintained our strong family ties. Foothills has the sole Cavalry farm system, and Cavalry train at our world-class facilities.

... And We Are Poised To Repeat The Success in the Canadian Women's Professional League

Foothills also actively supports the PATHWAY TO PRO for women's soccer. Our WFC team plays in the United Women's Soccer League, a U.S.-based pro-am league, as well as League 1 Alberta. The team is a three-time conference champion and two-time national finalist and has been awarded Franchise of the Year and Coach of the Year twice. 

Even more exciting, Foothills is confirmed as a founding franchise in the new Canadian Women’s Professional League, currently referred to as Project 8. The League was created by former Canadian women's national team player and Olympian Diana Matheson and is set to launch in 2025.


Graduates of our PATHWAY TO PRO

Foothills alums have played for numerous Canadian and international colleges and universities, and many have obtained scholarships. Others have represented Canada and their home countries at National and International competitions, including the World Cup. Many have played for professional clubs, like Cavalry FC, Vancouver Whitecaps, Galatasaray, CF Montreal, Manchester City, Ross County, and many more.

In the 2022 post-secondary soccer season, Foothills had 107 athletes participate for their university and college teams. In 2023, that number rose to 116. We are extremely proud of this number. A Foothills goal is to do everything we can to find each of our players a home in a post-secondary institution. And, because of our second-to-none PATHWAY TO PRO program, we fully expect that number to grow year over year.

  

PATHWAY TO PRO News & Updates

   
Congratulations Tom Field Who Has Re-Signed To Join Cavalry FC. Learn more. Foothills Academy Graduate Michael Harms Signs with Cavalry FC. Learn more.