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Since 2013, four members of the Impact Academy have graduated to the senior team with professional contracts, only to find themselves cut loose. These players have all bounced around, and still play soccer professionally, albeit in colours other than Impact blue. Today, Mount Royal Soccer asks: Where are they now?
Zakaria Messoudi
Messoudi was the first member of the academy to graduate into the ranks of the Impact senior squad, and was overlooked by coach Marco Schillibaum immediately. He would never see the field with the Impact, and was never even selected for a place on the bench. In 2014, he was loaned to the Ottawa Fury where he failed to make the pitch as well. He currently plays for Odds BK in the Eliteserien (Tippeligaen), Norway’s top division of soccer. He has played in only two games, both as substitutions.
Karl Ouimette
Karl Ouimette disputed 20 games with the Impact from 2012 – 2014, managing to score a game-winning goal in 2013 against Philadelphia. He made the field in 18 matches with the New York Red Bulls as well, before being loaned to the New York Red Bulls II, their USL affiliate, and later the Jacksonville Armada of the NASL. He has signed with the newly formed San Francisco Deltas of the NASL for the 2017 season, under former Montréal Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos. He is currently an active member of the Canadian National Team.
Maxim Tissot
Despite playing in 44 games with the Montréal Impact, and netting 5 goals between 2013 – 2016, it was not enough to secure a permanent place on the Impact roster. Only a few days after leaving Montréal, Tissot found himself playing – and starting – in 19 of 19 games with the Ottawa Fury, where he scored two goals and netted two assists. He is currently pursuing international opportunities, according to an interview with On jase soccer in December 2016. He is currently an active member of the Canadian National Team.
Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé
Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (JGL) played in only 7 matches with the Impact before being loaned to FC Montréal, where he played 16 games and scored a single goal. For much of the 2015 season, he would be loaned to the Ottawa Fury where he would earn time on the field only once, albeit during play-off competition. In 2016, JGL would return to FC Montréal to dispute 13 matches, principally as a defensive midfielder. In January 2017, after a brief trial with Stade Rennais in Ligue 1, he signed a contract with AS Vitré, in the Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), which acts as the 4th division in France. He made his first appearance with the club in February 2017. Like both Maxim Tissot and Karl Ouimette, he is an active member of the Canadian National Team.