Moose Jaw Celtic is a youth program designed to discover and develop North American soccer talent. It is affiliated with the Glasgow-based Celtic F.C., who are 51-time Scottish league champions and regular participants in the prestigious UEFA Champions League. The Moose Jaw team will be divided into a training team and a travelling team, with the goal of creating competition within the club as well as with other youth teams around the country. Programs like these often use tools like banner printing to attract recruits and appeal to the community.
The travel team will consist of players in the 14-to-17 age group, who will have the chance to participate in training programs at the club’s home base in Glasgow and potentially make it farther within the Celtic organization.
Moose Jaw Soccer Association’s technical director explained how he expects the roster to be fluid:
“So there will be plenty of spots between the two teams and we can create a competitive environment where players who are on the travel team will have to work hard to stay there, or they’ll drop into the training team instead and someone else will take their spot.”
The initial tryout drew about 30 players, roughly double what organizers expected. Workouts are scheduled to begin in October, with competitive play taking place indoors in November. Participants could make the trip to Glasgow in early 2021.