Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis, right, speaks as interim general secretary Earl Cochrane listens during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Sunday, June 5, 2022. After refusing to train on Friday and Saturday, Canada's men's soccer team said it refused to play its World Cup warm-up match against Panama Sunday because of a labour dispute with Soccer Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

TORONTO — It was a milestone for Toronto FC when Doneil Henry, then 17, became its first homegrown player back in August 2010.

"One of those memories that will always remain," said Earl Cochrane, then director of the fledgling TFC academy.

As Toronto had only started play in 2007, it had been given the OK to take its youth program slowly by Major League Soccer. But the club and owner Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment wanted to do it sooner than later.

"They were all on board," said Cochrane said of the MLSE board.

Cochrane, who went on to become TFC's general manager and managing director of soccer as well as Canada Soccer's general secretary, recalls talking to Brian Burke and Bryan Colangelo, then GMs of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Raptors, respectively, about the idea of a youth academy.

"I can remember them being super-jealous about the idea," Cochrane said.

Henry was the program's first graduate.

The Toronto academy opened in 2008 with Henry joining in November that year after being released by the Ontario Soccer Association's provincial program. The defender became captain of the junior team and was promoted to the senior academy in November 2009.

Nine months later Cochrane, with contract in hand, made the drive to suburban Brampton.

"I can still remember sitting with Doneil and his parents at the dining room table, with documents out — explaining what was going to be happening. How momentous this was going to be not just for the academy but the team itself — football in Canada. I remember seeing how excited they were at the (signing) announcement."

Fast forward 16 years and TFC is now up to 37 homegrown players, with 16-year-old defender Stefan Kapor the most recent (in October 2025).

Henry went on to make 101 appearances in his two stints with TFC. He also played in England for West Ham and Blackburn Rovers, in Denmark for AC Horsens, in South Korea with Suwon Samsung Bluewings, and had MLS stints with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Los Angeles FC and Minnesota United in addition to a USL loan spell with the Ottawa Fury.

On the international front, he won 44 caps for Canada.

Henry retired after making 14 appearances for Halifax Wanderers in the 2023 Canadian Premier League season.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2026

News from © The Canadian Press, 2026