TORONTO – The Canadian Premier League announced that the 2022 CPL-U SPORTS Draft will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2022. The LIVE broadcast presentation will be hosted by CanPL's Kristian Jack on CANPL.ca, CPL Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, OneSoccer YouTube and OneSoccer.ca at 8PM ET.

A list of eligible U SPORTS athletes includes Acadia Axeman Zane Brennan. Brennan led the Axemen in scoring this past season and is eligible for the CPL draft next week.

"Since the creation of the CPL four years ago, I decided I wanted to play in it and for the past three seasons I have been focused and working non-stop to make it happen," noted Brennan.

Following a successful 2021 draft that provided several U SPORTS draft picks a CPL opportunity, top rated, Canadian University soccer players from coast to coast will have an opportunity to earn a spot on a CPL Club through the Draft for the Canadian Premier League's 2022 season.

The CPL-U SPORTS Draft will consist of two rounds, with eight picks in each round. Selection Order is determined based on the full season, including Playoffs and Final standings and both rounds will start with 8th place (reverse order) as noted in the graphic.

All 16 draftees will be invited to their club's preseason training, with the hopes of securing a 2022 U SPORTS Developmental Contract for the upcoming season.

The 2022 CPL-U SPORTS Draft full prospect list will be published on Thursday, January 13 at 12pm ET on CANPL.ca

This truly unique partnership between the Canadian Premier League and U SPORTS allows a student-athlete with one to five years of U SPORTS eligibility remaining to sign with a CPL Club, while preserving their eligibility before returning to U SPORTS competition. Several players have also later joined their CPL club on a full-time professional player contract following graduation.