CFL Global Combine series heads to Tokyo

TOKYO — As the Canadian Football League continues its global adventure, the crew, led by CFL Director of Global Scouting Greg Quick and CFO and Director of Football Operations Greg Dick, have landed in Tokyo, Japan.

On Saturday, the seventh of 10 CFL Global Combines being held in 2020 will take place in the Japanese capital.

Also on hand will be senior director of football operations Ryan Janzen and coordinator of global scouting Lawrence Hopper.

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In cooperation with the Japan American Football Association, the CFL staff will take a look at 13 athletes who have been invited to attend the Combine. As it is being held in conjunction with Japanese National Team tryouts, which involves 100 prospects, that number could grow. In other words, it is possible that more players are identified as CFL candidates after the completion of the national team try-outs.

The combine is one of a series around the world allowing CFL staff to evaluate international athletes for potential selection by a CFL team. 

So far, nine players have been chosen from the CFL Global Combines held in Finland, Sweden, France, Italy, Great Britain, and Germany. From the Finnish combine, Micky Kyei and Sebastien Sagne were selected and from the combine in Sweden, defensive back William James.

The French combine produced receiver Anthony Mahoungou and defensive back Tony Anderson, both who have attended NFL camps. From Germany, two players were picked — Sven Breidenbach and Niklas Liesen — while Great Britain’s event produced linebacker David Izinyon.

The CFL continues to forge new international gridiron partnerships and to date has signed agreements with federations throughout the world with a number of countries including Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Brazil and Sweden and is in talks with a number of others.

The top players will be invited to Toronto from March 26-28 for the 2020 CFL Combine which will feature international prospects competing alongside their young Canadian counterparts from U SPORTS, the NCAA and junior football. The league’s biggest scouting event will be followed by two separate drafts in the spring – one for global players and one for Canadians.

Schedule for the day

9 a.m. – 11 a.m.: Registration, player orientation meeting, and measurements.

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Testing (Bench, vertical, 40-yard dash, 3-cone shuttle)

1 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Positional drills and one on ones.