Henry signing a milestone moment for Toronto FC
Global News
It was a milestone for Toronto FC when Doneil Henry, then 17, became its first homegrown player back in August 2010.
TORONTO – It was a milestone for Toronto FC when Doneil Henry, then 17, became its first homegrown player back in August 2010.
“One of those memories that will always remain,” said Earl Cochrane, then director of the fledgling TFC academy.
As Toronto had only started play in 2007, it had been given the OK to take its youth program slowly by Major League Soccer. But the club and owner Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment wanted to do it sooner than later.
“They were all on board,” said Cochrane said of the MLSE board.
Cochrane, who went on to become TFC’s general manager and managing director of soccer as well as Canada Soccer’s general secretary, recalls talking to Brian Burke and Bryan Colangelo, then GMs of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Raptors, respectively, about the idea of a youth academy.
“I can remember them being super-jealous about the idea,” Cochrane said.
Henry was the program’s first graduate.
The Toronto academy opened in 2008 with Henry joining in November that year after being released by the Ontario Soccer Association’s provincial program. The defender became captain of the junior team and was promoted to the senior academy in November 2009.
