Cavalry FC announced on Tuesday that Oliver Minatel, previously the club’s Head of Recruitment and Player Development, is headed to Florida, where he will be joining Major League Soccer club Orlando City SC as a Scouting Coordinator.

Minatel, a former player who spent four years in the Canadian Premier League with Cavalry and York United FC, had been working in the Cavs’ front office for about 18 months, taking on his role there in February 2023 after announcing his retirement from playing.

The Brazil-born Minatel is the latest example of a former CPL player succeeding in a role off the pitch, remaining in the game after hanging up his boots thanks to the opportunities that now exist at these developing professional clubs.

“It means a lot, it’s an honour,” Minatel said. “I thank Cavalry, and especially Tommy [Wheeldon Jr.] and our ownership group for having believed in me and given me that first chance, and I was able to grow from there.”

Although the recent connection between Cavalry and Orlando City is obvious, from the clubs’ two-game meeting in the Concacaf Champions Cup earlier this year, Minatel’s first encounter with the club actually came earlier than that.

Shortly after beginning his off-field role at Cavalry, Minatel travelled to London, England to represent the club at a TransferRoom summit, where he met to discuss recruitment and scouting strategies with staff from many of the biggest clubs in global football. It was there that he met Orlando City’s VP of Soccer Operations Ricardo Moreira, as well as EVP of Soccer Ops Luiz Muzzi.

By fortunate coincidence, the two sides came back into contact when Cavalry drew Orlando in Concacaf.

As he moves on though, Minatel is grateful for the stepping stone Cavalry provided him to stay within the footballing world after his playing career was cut short by injuries at the age of 30.

“I was very fortunate because I was able to squeeze the orange as much as possible with Tommy,” Minatel said. “I was his player, and I learned a lot from him as a head coach, and then I was able to keep the door open, even though we’ve gone through tough patches here as well. I had the injury, I didn’t renew my contract, but we’re a club that’s high on character, so not allowing the negative moments affect who the character is and the person that you are, that’s a big lesson that I’ve learned.”

Minatel is far from the first former CPL player to find success within the sport after retiring. Cavalry, in particular, have offered front office or coaching roles to the likes of Nik Ledgerwood and Jonathan Wheeldon in their coaching staff); Mason Trafford (now the club’s Commercial and Marketing Director); and Mauro Eustáquio, an assistant coach at York United FC. Across the CPL, former players like Mark Village (Vancouver FC goalkeeping coach), Daryl Fordyce (Valour FC assistant coach) and Drew Beckie (Atlético Ottawa’s Director of Development and Player Engagement) have similarly contributed since hanging up the boots.

Minatel is primarily grateful to Cavalry — and to Tommy Wheeldon Jr. in particular — for fostering a club culture that can provide the opportunities it has for those like him. But across the CPL in general, Minatel sees how important it is to Canada’s footballing landscape for roles like his to exist in a professional setting.

“If you’ve played for the club, you know the culture, you know what the expectations are,” Minatel said. “I think it’s very important to have guys on the business side who understand the player’s perspective because the sports industry is unique.

“Those players know what the new generation needs, know what they didn’t have, especially talking about the Canadian ones. I came to Canada for the first time in 2014, 10 years ago, to play for the Ottawa Fury back in the NASL and the CPL didn’t exist. I can tell you first-hand how much it has grown and how many opportunities there are now. Maybe we would have a more established national team today if the CPL was here for a longer time. That’s the aim for the future.”

Just like the CPL has moved players on to bigger and better things, so too is it a pathway for staff — whether that’s Minatel moving to Orlando, or Vancouver FC kitman Cortlin Tonn working for Canada at Copa América, or even former Cavalry assistant coach Leon Hapgood going to New York City FC.

Although Cavalry may find it tough to replace Minatel, the club is undeniably thrilled to see members of its family succeeding.