Sudbury Cyclones return to soccer pitch next year

Sports fans will have another local team to support next spring with the return of Sudbury Cyclones Soccer.

The Sudbury Wolves and Entertainment franchise club announced Wednesday the new season and new team will kick off next year.

The elite men’s team will don the Cyclones names again after four decades. The last time the team played in Sudbury was 1980.

‘We get to refresh it, we get to modernize it and it’s really exciting,” said Cyclones sports director Connor Vande Weghe.

The team is part League1 Ontario, which has expanded its league structure for the upcoming season to three tiers to allow for more teams.

“We’ll get started very shortly on building our roster, the specific rules of who can be on the team are going to be established shortly,” said Vande Weghe.

“But we’re looking at a mix of local players and players from outside of Canada and of course players from across of Canada who have a very high level of playing.”

Team Owner Dario Zulich said the new team “fits perfectly.

“(Especially) in terms of when they’re not playing, and then we have another sport like football to play in the summertime,” Zulich said.

The team has chosen James Jerome Field in the city’s West end for its home base.

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“It’s really a focal point of our city, with Science North right there, it’s really showcasing the best part of Sudbury,” said GM Dayna Corelli.

Zulich said it is important to bring high-level sports to the north to continue to grow the league and develop future stars here.

“It’s such a growing sport in the world, in North America, in the province and in our country,” he said.

“As long as you have a pair of shoes and a dream, you can be a superstar.”

The finer details like how many games will be played throughout the regular season are will being worked out with the league but officials said the city can expect things to be up and running around April 2024.