The Canadian Premier League kicks off its seventh season Saturday with Atletico Ottawa's Sergei Kozlovskiy and J.D. Ulanowski serving as prime examples of the platform the domestic soccer league offers.
Both have a bright future. But the two are already ahead of the game.
Kozlovskiy is a 16-year-old defender who joined the team last month on an Exceptional Young Talent contact.
Ulanowski is Ottawa's 28-year-old general manager, moving up the ladder after Fernando Lopez, the club's former chief executive officer and GM, left to return home as CEO of Real Zaragoza in Spain's second-tier league.
Introduced in 2023, the Exceptional Young Talent category allows CPL teams to sign two domestic under-18 players in addition to their 23 man primary roster. The base salary of EYT players, who can retain such status through their 21st birthday, does not count against the salary cap.
While Kozlovskiy has yet to make his competitive CPL debut, he has already turned heads.
"An amazing player. He will have the opportunity to play a lot of matches this season," said Diego Mejia, a 41-year-old Mexican who was named Ottawa's coach in January succeeding Carlos Gonzalez.
"He's got absolutely everything you need to be a top footballer," added veteran Ottawa goalkeeper Nate Ingham. "I don't know how long he's going to last in this league (but) he's going to play a role for us this year, I can guarantee it."
"The sky's the limit for him and I wouldn't be surprised if you see him get to the highest level of Canada soccer in the next five years," he added.
Other CPL players operating on an Exceptional Young Talent contract are Chanan Chanda (Cavalry FC), Khadim Kane (Forge FC), Tavio Ciccarelli (Halifax Wanderers), T.J. Tahid and Emrick Fotsing (Vancouver FC) and Shola Jimoh and Marsel Bibishkov (York United).
Vancouver FC sold fullback James Cameron, another EYT player, to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer in February.
Such moves work both ways. The player moves to a bigger stage while the CPL team reaps the financial reward of helping develop such young talent.
"These guys can come at 15, 16, 17, compete for first-team minutes and hopefully move on quite quickly," Ulanowski said. "We understand where the league is … Obviously me personally, as a club, we want to compete and win titles. But at the same time, with a guy like Sergei, we also want to launch those Canadians to Europe or maybe back to MLS, if there's not an immediate pathway (to Europe)."
Kozlovskiy joined Ottawa from CF Montreal, where he rose through the youth ranks.
Growing up in Longueuil, Que, he joined the Montreal academy when he was 14.
"Everything started, I think, for me when we went to the final of the MLS Next Cup (at) under-15," he said.
He was moved up to the academy U17 side and as invited to the first team's training camp in Tucson, Ariz., last year, starting Montreal's first pre-season game at centre back against Minnesota United.
Having previously represented Canada at the U-15 and U-17 level, he was just 15 when called up to play in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Qualifiers early last year in Trinidad and Tobago.
"At that time I was still skinny, I had small arms," said Kozlovskiy, who now stands just under six feet and weighs 180 pounds. "It opened my eyes. I started doing a lot of gym (work) after that camp because I saw how strong the guys were. They were really strong physically."
A left-sided centre back or left back, he believes the CPL will help improve his play.
"My main goal is still to develop as a player because I'm still really young," he said.
So far, so good. Ulanowski says Kozlovskiy "did not look out of place" in playing 60-70 minutes in a pre-season game against the Chivas Guadalajara second team.
"He doesn't seem like a 16-year-old," he added.
Kozlovskiy, who speaks English, French and Russian, turns 17 on June 18. His grandfather, Sergey Pokidin, played professionally in Ukraine and coached him as a youth, as did Kozlovskiy's father.
Away from the football field, he is completing Grade 11 online.
Ulanowski, a graduate of Brock University’s sports management program, served as an intern with Toronto FC before joining the CPL in 2019 as a compliance and player recruitment officer.
Three years later, he joined Atletico Ottawa first in a team manager role, before moving up to assistant GM and now GM.
"I say it's a little bit of luck and good timing, to be completely honest with you," the Oakville, Ont., native said. "I'm very grateful to be in this role … I was just able to work with some really good people and kind of carve out a path for myself in this industry."
Atletico Ottawa hosts the Halifax Wanderers in the first of three games Saturday. Forge FC then entertains champion Cavalry FC in a rematch of last year's final before Valour FC visits Pacific FC.
On Sunday, it's York United at Vancouver FC.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
