After a first season with the Langley-based Spartans men’s soccer team which saw him earn a Canada West Second Team All-Star and U SPORTS All-Rookie Team selection, Jake Ruby has been selected by HFX Wanderers FC (Halifax) in the second round of the CPL-U SPORTS draft.
Following the 2019 U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championship in Montreal, the Canadian Premier League held a two-round draft, with 14 players selected from across the U SPORTS landscape.
Ruby joins Aldergrove’s Joel Waterman (2018) as Spartans who have been selected in the draft.
Waterman, who just completed his first season in the CPL with Cavalry FC (Calgary), was also selected 14th overall in the inaugural CPL-U SPORTS draft.
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“We couldn’t be happier for Jake,” said Spartans head coach Mike Shearon. “He is such a competitor. In every training session, he competed – blocking shots, winning 1v1 battles and scoring goals.
“He has great skills in both passing and dribbling, and can do a variety of things on the field and really excited he’s been given this opportunity.”
Ruby’s selection comes after a dominant first season with TWU. The first-year defender made an immediate impact with the Spartans, starting all 16 regular season games and one playoff game. An outside back, Ruby scored three goals and added two assists on the season, placing him fifth in team scoring.
Ruby will have a chance to join both Waterman and fellow TWU alum Elijah Adekugbe in the CPL, as the duo played together with Cavalry FC this past season.
HFX Wanderers FC are coming off a season in which they finished seventh in the league with a 3-8-7 record. Under the partnership agreement between the CPL and U SPORTS, student-athletes have an opportunity to be signed to a CPL-U SPORTS Developmental Contract. This will allow student-athletes with one to four years of eligibility remaining to play with a CPL club in the spring and summer before returning to U SPORTS competition.
