The Brantford Inter-City Soccer Club under-21 team will be the reserve team for the Brantford Galaxy.

The BICS under-21 Force will become the Brantford Galaxy under-21 and play in a sub-division of the Canadian Soccer League against other reserve teams.

The team will be coached by current Force coaches Carmine Romano and Peter Pollilo.

Romano said he was looking forward to the relationship with the Galaxy and the opportunity it represents for his players.

“The advantage is they can instantly call one of our guys up,” he said. “A couple of years ago, our goal was to provide local guys with talent to continue to play soccer.

“Now there’s a real carrot at the end for our guys who are part of an organization where they can get the call up. They’re going to get exposed to more competitive soccer.”

Brant News recently reported that a professional soccer team would be coming to Brantford.

The Galaxy, which will play at Lions Park, is one of three expansion teams scheduled to compete in the upcoming CSL season, which starts in May.

The CSL currently consists of 13 teams, mostly in Ontario, which are each required to have a reserve team.

The professional league has created an under-21 division in which at least 10 teams will compete this season, including Brantford.

Galaxy spokesperson Gerry Crnic said the addition of the Galaxy under-21 side will bolster the men’s professional team and help develop soccer in Brantford.

“I think it’s a very exciting development,” he said. “For the first time in Brantford you will have a complete pyramid of play … Kids will be developed with the opportunity to go places with soccer.

“We would like nothing better than to be able to develop local players.”

Crnic said next season all CSL teams will be required to have an under-21 reserve team.

Open tryouts for the under-21 team are expected to take place in the first week of March. 

The CSL is the only professional soccer league in the country comprised solely of Canadian teams.