User:Westislandlad/Sanjaxx Lions

Sanjaxx Lions, is a Canadian semi-professional men's football team and the League1 Ontario side of the Sanjaxx Soccer School, based in Toronto. The school was established in 2012 under the direction of former Jamaican U-20 player Patrick "Laza" Lowe, and joined League1 Ontario in 2015, playing home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York. The team moved to Monarch Park Stadium in Toronto's Danforth neighbourhood for the 2016 season.

History
Founded in 2012 by Head Coach Laza Lowe and partner Dr. Nicole Bonafede as a soccer academy that emphasized baseline player fitness as well as technical skill. Lowe created the academy's name as an amalgam of two sides he admired: Santos and Ajax. Sanjaxx joined League1 Ontario in 2015 with both a men's and women's side. The club has a good record as an academy, based mainly on the good reputations of Lowe and Bonafede.

The club fielded a side in the women's division, but went on hiatus for the 2018 season and was ultimately discontinued. The club has working relationships with the academy programs of Pescara and Angolana in Italy.

2017 Season
Sanjaxx's biggest hurdle to overcome entering the 2017 season was the loss of 'keeper Matthew Zaikos to Devonport City FC of the NPL Tasmania. Portuguese import player Nuno Gonçalves was brought in to fill that hole, and the team was becoming more experienced, but only minor improvements were made on the previous campaign. Sanjaxx again fell on penalty kicks in the first round of cup competition.

Individually, captain Stefan Nikolic won the League1 Fair-Play award, and defender Nathaniel Rodney-Scarlett made the mid-season All-Star Team and the All-League third team. Forward Antonio Downey led the team with 9 goals across all competitions.

Roster
as of June 25, 2018

Professional Players
The following players have moved from the youth ranks of the club to play professional soccer, or played professional soccer prior to joining the League1 side. Players in bold have full senior international caps.
 * 🇨🇦 Matt Zaikos - 🇦🇺 Northern Rangers FC
 * Nuno Gonçalves - Quarteira SC
 * 🇨🇦 Julio Vilaça - FC Famalicão