Shome turned down offers from a couple of NCAA programs; instead he chose to play at the University of Alberta, where he could be closely monitored by the FC Edmonton brass.

So, for those wondering “who is Jay Ball?” I can offer a little bit of fill-in-the-blanks.

“The NASL, now, for sure is the strongest that it’s ever been, other than the old NASL I played in — the dinosaurs, it seems that long ago,” said Miller after FCE’s session at Commonwealth Fieldhouse. “Certainly there’s been a lot of movement within the league because we’ve got three new franchises. Of course, there will be a lot of announcements that way. But the money that’s being spent now within each club is fantastic.

“Hanson was free to do what he did,” said Miller. “He was terrific for us He’s decided to move on, the club had made a terrific offer for him to stay. He’s gone from us and we wish him well. He’s come through our academy and we’re after our fee and we won’t stop till we get it, simple as that.”

“Down here in Edmonton, I can’t really say much about it!” laughed Corea after the Eddies’ training-camp session Wednesday at Commonwealth Fieldhouse. “I might get my head chopped off by the gaffer and some of the guys here. But I want my team to qualify.”

FC Edmonton will open training camp this Wednesday the Commonwealth Fieldhouse, and on hand will be the team’s newest signing, Senegalese central defender Pape Diakite.

“It was Ritchie Jones who reached out,” said Eckersley. “And I wanted something a bit different for my family. And my little brother has played in Canada, for Toronto, and he had nothing but good things to say about Canada.”

We’ve seen this over and over. A young players come up through our system, and then our small-but-oh-so-loud Canadian soccer community gives the kid way too much praise, way too much hype. It’s understandable, we’re so desparate for a saviour, an instant solution to decades worth of soccer rot, that we latch on to 17-year-old after 17-year-old. The message boards fill up with dreams of big moves to big clubs. And whether your name is Aleman, Alderson or Teibert, the overreaction to some early career successes puts you on a path to meet expectations that can’t possibly be met.

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller feels this has been the most promising off-season in the club’s history.

Last November, after he’d wrapped up his NCAA season as the No. 1 shot stopped at Florida Gulf Coast University, the Canadian keeper got a call from FC Edmonton goalkeeping coach Darren Woloshen. Ingham learned that the NASL club had a lot of interest in signing the him — but the team had to know ASAP if the feeling was mutual. The Eddies wanted to get their roster sorted sooner rather than later.