The Lynx' high ranking comes on the heels of a highly-successful season which saw the U20 Boys bow out on penalties in the semi-finals of the U20 North American Finals.  The U17 Boys squad also qualified for the North American Finals, which are to be held in Tampa, Florida in three weeks.

Academy Director Duncan Wilde is extremely pleased with the honour, saying "This is a tremendous collective achievement by everyone involved with the Toronto Lynx. This has been our strongest ever year as a member of the United Soccer Leagues and our ranking clearly shows that we have built our club into one of the top player development programs in North America.  Hopefully our U17 Boys can cap off a great season by claiming our first North American Super-Y League Championship next month in Florida"

The Super Y-League launched a new club ranking system in 2005 with the top clubs ranked from 1-22 and separated into the First and Second 11. With the extensive growth of the second-year USL Super-20 League, the 2007 rankings also include a club's performance in the new league. This system publicizes the top 22 clubs in both the boys and girls categories as well as overall. The rankings are based primarily upon the on-field results - winning percentage accounting for 70 percent of the score. Minimum standards and operations complete the other 30 percent.

"The criteria used to rank these clubs is basic yet essential to the Super Y-League's philosophy of providing a professionalized atmosphere for the top youth players in North America," said USL Super Y-League and Super -20 League Director of Operations Melanie Fitzgerald. "United Soccer Leagues wanted a way to salute those clubs who consistently succeed not only on the field but off the field as well."

21 LYNX PLAYERS SELECTED TO ODP PROGRAM

The Toronto Lynx also announced today that 21 players from the Junior Lynx program have been selected by the United Soccer Leagues to participate in the Super Y-League's Olympic Development Program (ODP) National Camps to be held at the Cocoa Expo Center in Cocoa, Florida in January and February of 2008. Selections from the 2007 season were made from the identification system by the Super Y-League National ODP Scouting Staff. The selection process was then finalized by the ODP Staff Coaches, and assembled by the USL office.   Eight Junior Lynx boys and 13 Junior Lady Lynx girls were selected to represent the Lynx at this prestigious event, held annually.

"The SYL ODP National Camps provide opportunities for elite players to be identified by some of the top college and university programs in the country." said USL ODP Coordinator, Sean Trask.

The Toronto Lynx Juniors players selected are as follows: