MVP History

MVP Football Academy was founded in 2016 by Phil Edworthy and Sean Gaudon. They founded MVP to provide players with alternative development opportunities, specifically focused on youth skills camps in the early stages.

The program shifted towards the 7v7 development model after connecting with former CFL players who had started IDFFL, a 7v7 program and developmental league in the GTA.

Our travel 7v7 program began in 2017, as we began to take our team to compete in tournaments in the United States to provide our players with a better level of competition. Our goal was to provide athletes with the best competition and develop their skills and football IQ to prepare them to play at the University level.

Since our program started, we have 9 Alumni that have gone on to play professional football in the NFL and CFL, 17 players have received NCAA Scholarship offers, and over 50 players have gone on to play U-Sports football in Canada. We have established ourselves as one of the top 7v7 programs in Canada and have formed a coaching staff with over 70 years of experience, over 25 of them at the University level.

MVP PRIORITIES

Develop Players - the football player and the person.
Provide players with exposure to university coaches.
Win tournaments.

MVP is a Not-For-Profit football development program dedicated to preparing Canadian High-School age players to be academically eligible for, and able to compete at, the USports or NCAA levels.

We utilize practices, tournaments, and Showcase Camps to provide players the opportunity and exposure of performing in front of university coaches.

All players compete in US 7v7 tournaments and attend US college recruiting visits to gain exposure during each tournament weekend.

THE MVP DIFFERENCE

Coaches experienced at the Canadian University level - as coaches, players, or both - volunteering their time for free.

Dedication to teaching the specific skills, techniques and schemes required to play at the university levels of football.

Focus on teaching higher-level strategies and concepts so that players are mentally, as well as physically, prepared for the next-level.

Support of players in their journey through the NCAA & USports recruiting process, increasing players exposure to coaches through established networks, and offering advice for both academic and football related topics before and during the process.

Includes access to the ‘Honest Game’ application which provides tracking of NCAA eligibility as grades are earned.

Off-field mentoring & information for continued physical and mental development including skills & technique guidance, strength building and Football IQ development.

RECRUITING

MVP puts a lot of focus on retaining current players through providing an honest, high-quality experience of player development and providing opportunities not offered elsewhere.

MVP Coaches scout players, who are then invited to tryout for the team, in various ways:

At MVP Middle School, High School, and Showcase camps.
Travelling to summer league games to see players perform.
Reviewing game film sent by players, coaches, and parents.
Taking current player input on teammates or opponents that may make the grade.

STRUCTURE

In 2024-25 MVP will return to having one 18u team, stay with one 15u team, continue the 14u team, and provide opportunities for younger players, as we progress into a more detailed high performance development model.

Due to issues with player behaviour and commitment negatively impacting the program and experience of others, MVP will be fielding just one 18u Team in the 2024-24 season. This team will be the best players we can recruit taking on the very best competition in asimilar schedule to the 2023-24 National team..
The aim is to have the 18u attend three tournaments in the US, including those run by our Battle Sports sponsor where the biggest and best US programs play their top talent consistently, and our own Ontario tournament which now includes US programs alongside the Canadian teams.
Players represeinting the 18u team will be those who show the best physical preparation & ability as well as mastering the mental aspects focused on by the MVP coaching staff - football IQ, keys, reads, adjustments, etc.

MVP caps team roster numbers for each tournament to ensure every player present gets maximised reps and opportunities.

The 15u team will compete in a similar model, attending 3 US and our own Ontario tournaments, but with a build of competition level through the US tournaments to allow for growth and success. Their final US tournament will introduce them to the highest level of competition.

The 14u team will compete in 2 US tournaments plus the MVP Ontario tournament. The aim for this team is to develop younger players by teaching them how to practice in a high performance environment, baseline techniques, and a subset of the scheme used at older age groups.

The long-term vision is for younger players to graduate all the way through to the 18u team, giving MVP consistency in performance growth each year. It is envisaged that as this model matures then the minimal practice time afforded by our players geographical spread is less of a handicap. This also gives players clear progression goals within the program as they play and develop.

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