# 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft

The 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft was the inaugural CPL–U Sports Draft, held on November 12, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 21 U Sports athletes in total. The results were announced on November 13.

## Format

A blind draw was used to determine the draft order for the first round. A "snake draft" was used, with the order reversing in the second round, and then reversing back in the third and final round. Clubs had a window of time in which they must submit their pick, and failure to do so resulted in a pass. There was a break between each round, as well as one timeout per club. However, timeouts could not be used in back-to-back picks.

## Player selection

| $^*$ | Denotes player who signed a professional contract for the 2019 season |
| $^^$ | Denotes player who signed a developmental contract for the 2019 season |

### Round 1

| Pick # | CPL team | Player | Position | Nationality | University |
| 1 | Cavalry FC | Gabriel Bitar^ | Midfielder | Canada | Carleton |
| 2 | Valour FC | Dylan Carreiro* | Midfielder | Canada | York |
| 3 | Forge FC | Jace Kotsopoulos^ | Forward | Canada | Guelph |
| 4 | York9 FC | Daniel Gogarty* | Defender | Canada | York |
| 5 | HFX Wanderers FC | Peter Schaale^ | Defender | Germany | Cape Breton |
| 6 | Pacific FC | Thomas Gardner | Forward | Canada | British Columbia |
| 7 | FC Edmonton | Connor James* | Goalkeeper | Canada | Alberta |

### Round 2

| Pick # | CPL team | Player | Position | Nationality | University |
| 8 | FC Edmonton | Ajeej Sarkaria* | Forward | Canada | Alberta |
| 9 | Pacific FC | Zach Verhoven^ | Forward | Canada | British Columbia |
| 10 | HFX Wanderers FC | André Bona* | Defender | France | UQAM |
| 11 | York9 FC | Emmanuel Zambazis* | Midfielder | Canada | York |
| 12 | Forge FC | Aboubacar Sissoko | Midfielder | Mali | Montréal |
| 13 | Valour FC | Lewis White | Defender | Scotland | Cape Breton |
| 14 | Cavalry FC | Joel Waterman* | Midfielder | Canada | Trinity Western |

### Round 3

| Pick # | CPL team | Player | Position | Nationality | University |
| 15 | Cavalry FC | Easton Ongaro | Forward | Canada | Alberta |
| 16 | Valour FC | Jack Simpson | Midfielder | Scotland | Cape Breton |
| 17 | Forge FC | Marko Mandekic | Midfielder | Canada | Toronto |
| 18 | York9 FC | Daniel Pritchard | Defender | England | Cape Breton |
| 19 | HFX Wanderers FC | Christian Oxner* | Goalkeeper | Canada | Saint Mary's |
| 20 | Pacific FC | Nick Fussell | Midfielder | Canada | British Columbia |
| 21 | FC Edmonton | Noah Cunningham | Defender | Canada | Alberta |
* ↑ Easton Ongaro was drafted by Cavalry but did not sign. He later joined FC Edmonton as a free agent.
Source:

## Selection statistics
### Draftees by nationality

| Rank | Country | Selections |
| 1 | Canada | 15 |
| 2 | Scotland | 2 |
| 3 | England | 1 |
| 3 | France | 1 |
| 3 | Germany | 1 |
| 3 | Mali | 1 |

#### Canadian draftees by province

| Rank | Province | Selections |
| 1 | Ontario | 5 |
| 2 | Alberta | 4 |
| 2 | British Columbia | 4 |
| 4 | Manitoba | 1 |
| 4 | Nova Scotia | 1 |

### Draftees by university

| Rank | University | Selections |
| 1 | Cape Breton University | 4 |
| 1 | University of Alberta | 4 |
| 3 | York University | 3 |
| 3 | University of British Columbia | 3 |
| 5 | Carleton University | 1 |
| 5 | University of Guelph | 1 |
| 5 | Université du Québec à Montréal | 1 |
| 5 | Université de Montréal | 1 |
| 5 | Trinity Western University | 1 |
| 5 | University of Toronto | 1 |
| 5 | Saint Mary's University | 1 |