BARRIE - Simcoe County Rovers FC are proud to announce five news players that will be joining the First Team in 2023.
Ryan Silverstein, Andre Beecher, Luc Ihama, FearGod Ozomba and Justin Avonyo are joining the Rovers First Team permanently, after successful development periods at Rovers Reserve and Affiliate programs. Three of the five players are local Barrie residents.
Luc Ihama (2003) – Rovers Reserve Team | Barrie SC
From Barrie, Luc is a strong and talented Fullback/Winger who played his entire youth career with Barrie SC. Rovers First Team staff closely followed the Barrie SC U21 team last year where Luc played a key role. He earned a call up to the First Team during the Team’s League1 Semi Final match. Luc will be a full time Rover in 2023.
FearGod Ozomba (2003) – Rovers Reserve Team | Barrie SC
Like his teammate Luc, FearGod played his youth football with Barrie and has been identified as a standout player by the Rovers staff at the U21 level. FearGod is a talented and creative winger who was called up to the first team last season and will be joining the Rovers First Team in 2023.
Justin Avonyo (2004) – Rovers Reserve Team | Barrie SC
Justin is a Barrie SC product who had the opportunity to play in the Spanish youth system prior to returning home during the 2022 season. A creative and technical player, Justin was introduced to the Rovers First Team by Barrie SC Technical Director Mark Crisante towards the end of the 2022 season. He will be joining the Rovers First Team in 2023.
“We are very proud of these three talented young men who have worked hard to become great players and young men with good character off the field. We look forward to watching them continue evolve as they move into the highly regarded Simcoe County Rovers First Team.” Mark Cristante - Barrie Soccer Club Technical Director
Andre Beecher (2004) – Rovers Reserve Team | Athlete Institute FC
Andre is a strong Centre Back/Right Back who is one of many talented AIFC players the club has been able to push on to collegiate and professional levels over the last five years. Andre is a scholarship player at USPORTS powerhouse Cape Breton University and was called up to the Rovers First Team on multiple occasion during the 2022 season. This year Andre will be joining the Rovers First Team as full-time member.
“I first became aware of Andre’s character and ability when I was the Club Head Coach of an OPDL program a few years ago. So, to have the opportunity to coach him in his next phase of football development is very exciting. I think he will get plenty of playing minutes and we look forward to having him with us on a full-time basis” Jason Beckford - Simcoe County Rovers FC Head Coach
Ryan Silverstein (2006) – Rovers Affiliate | Aurora FC
Ryan is a talented Winger who has played his entire youth football career with Aurora FC. He is regarded as one of the best players in his age group and has also been a part of the Ontario Provincial program. Ryan was invited to train with the Rovers last year as an underage player and will be joining the Rovers First Team in 2023.
“We are extremely proud of Ryan earning this opportunity to test himself at the next level. It’s been a
pleasure to witness his hard work and dedication over the last 6 years. We look forward to following his
journey with Simcoe County Rovers” Marco Ciampa – Aurora FC Assistant Technical Director
“This was exactly our vision when building the relationships with our youth partnerships” stated Ali Sozeri, Rovers Club General Manager. We wanted to bring a winning, high performance football team to Simcoe County to challenge for trophies while providing a complete pathway to local youth clubs and players that haven’t had this opportunity without having to relocate. We are very confident that this intake of local youth players will serve our First Team well, and we hope that this can inspire even more youth players from Simcoe County and surrounding areas to pursue their football dreams. The talent is there. We are committed to, and will continue to identify, develop, and provide a platform for our local players to reach their full potential A massive thank you to our partners Barrie SC, Athlete Institute FC and Aurora FC in providing top level youth development programs to local players.”
The Simcoe County Rovers FC started pre-season training February 14th and will play their first match of the season in mid-April. The full schedule will be released by League 1 in the near future.
For more information, please contact media@roversfc.ca
