Top 5 Reasons to join CCSG's Fantasy League for Non-EPL fans
By Jon Hopkins
For some people, fantasy sports is everything. Managing a roster can be a great way to get more out of the sports we watch, consuming a lot of their time and energy in looking at spreadsheets filled with players and numbers. For others, it's just a fun game to play with friends and make games a bit more exciting. No matter your experience or what you typically look for, CCSG’s Fantasy League promises to be something special. Now, I am not a fan of the English Premier League insofar as I watch very little of it. However, there are still a lot of things that have drawn me to joining the league. So if you are like me and don’t watch the EPL, or if you are a seasoned vet, here are the top 5 reasons why you should join, even if you aren’t a Premier League fan!
1. Prizes
Some people (Including governments) will tell you that Fantasy sports is a game of skill rather than chance. And that may be true. It is also true that I’ve lost Fantasy leagues before because of insane luck and guesses made by my opponents. There isn’t a right answer because anything is possible, which means you can still come out on top even if you are new to a league. The prizes for the league certainly will incentivize casuals and competitive vets alike to fight their way to the top. The top prize will take home $200 dollars cash (an already exciting sum) AND Season seats in section W for the 2024 Atlético Ottawa season—nearly $500 dollars in value. Not only does the winner get loot, but so do the other top 3 finishers. 2nd will also take home some Atléti swag, while 3rd will get the finest selection from CCSG’s store (Check out the store here). Finally, 4th place gets a gift card to Ottawa’s one and only temple of football, the Glebe Central Pub, so at the very least, a beer on us! With those tantalizing prizes, it's hard to resist throwing your hat in the ring.
2. Story Lines
Something new to the league this year is weekly articles giving summaries of the week's games and covering it as if it were a real league of its own. This means you get to follow along with all of the stories of not only the Premier League itself but also the internal stories starring your own team. This added layer makes you all the more invested in the league and drives you to shape the narrative as much as you can with your weekly performances. Authored by our very own Patrick Gibson (author of the weekly player rankings and much more), the drama will have you glued to your seat and considering if it’s time you made the jump to coaching. On top of this, your team will have a special logo to help build your club identity, something few other leagues offer!
3. More Footy in the CPL Offseason
The CPL has one of the longest offseasons in professional Soccer, and while the CPL will sustain us through October, the long winter months are often the hardest. The fact that the EPL runs through our offseason lets you take that passion for the beautiful game and channel it into your own team and its fantasy fate. While it may not have the thrills and chills of live local football, it can still help sustain you in the hard months when there is no CPL news to cling to. It can also help give you some insights into the direction of the game and new ways to complain that any given team isn’t doing the same thing as teams worth over a billion dollars. While no EPL player is likely to jump to the CPL, so its value for scouting is suspect, it will at least give you a fresh set of players to daydream about.
4. Meet new friends (and foes)
Meeting new people is hard, especially as adults. You may be new to the city, new to the sport, or simply new to CCSG, but wherever you are and whatever your experience, this is a great opportunity to meet and chat with some of the most engaged members of the Soccer community in Ottawa. Make friends, share ideas and banter, and compete with a great group of people who share a love for the game. You’ll also get a new pool of competition that you may not have outside of other fantasy leagues you may participate in, giving you some new competition to play against outside of those Fantasy leagues you may have for other sports. There’s a supporter in everyone, and this is a great chance to let it out with folks who share that passion, and get ready to bring that same energy into the Dub for ATO (or other) games.
5. Tifos, Inflatables, and Dub Shenanigans
Most importantly, your 20$ fee will go towards improving and maintaining the game-day atmosphere at TD Place. Watch parties, TIFOs, inflatables, and all the numerous plans and events run by CCSG are entirely volunteer run, and not only do these volunteers often give their time, but they also spend quite a bit on supplies in order to make game-day the best it can be. Our own Masked Maestro has raided basements in order to find some of the most endearing icons of ATO (i.e Wally the Dinosaur). People need to buy paints and cloth for TIFOs to keep TD Place Beautiful.
So even if you don’t care much for the EPL and just want a shot at some great prizes, to make some memories and stories, to distract from offseason blues, to meet new folks, and of course, contribute to growing supporter culture and soccer in the city of Ottawa, sign up now for CCSG’s Fantasy League! I hope to see you there. And if you do love the EPL, what are you even waiting for?
About Jon
Jon Hopkins is a fresh face on the pro-football fandom scene, being introduced through Atlético Ottawa and the CPL. He grew up playing the beautiful game through his high school years in the Niagara Region. He has worked to support the growth of footie in Ottawa with CCSG since 2022 and now acts as the lead editor for the Writers at CCSG.