35-733: Ligue1 Québec ( L1QC ) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in Quebec , Canada. Founded in 2011 as the Première ligue de soccer du Québec , the league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Quebec Soccer Federation . In the Canadian soccer league system , the men's division is behind the fully-professional Canadian Premier League . It is part of League1 Canada ,
70-414: A full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a considerably lower rate than a full-time professional athlete . As a result, semi-professional players frequently have (or seek) full-time employment elsewhere. A semi-pro player or team could also be one that represents a place of employment that only
105-531: A length of usually between 15 and 20 games. The winner gets the regular season championship. Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap. At the end of the year, there is a league cup , called the Coupe L1QC (formerly the Coupe PLSQ ), which began in 2013. The format varies each season, depending on the number of teams in the league. The most recent cup competition featured
140-539: A men's division featuring five teams – A.S. Blainville , FC Brossard , FC Boisbriand , FC L'Assomption , and FC Saint-Léonard . FC Saint-Léonard won the inaugural season. The following season, the league added a league cup to its schedule, the Coupe PLSQ, which would take place annually at the conclusion of the season, unrelated to the results of the regular season. In 2014, the province of Ontario created its own semi-professional level 3 league, League1 Ontario , and
175-632: A semi-professional league called the Ligue nationale de soccer du Québec (LNSQ) was created, but it merged with different rival leagues to form the Ligue de soccer élite du Québec in 1992. In 1993, five of the former LNSQ clubs Corfinium St-Leonard, Cosmos de LaSalle, Luso Stars Mont-Royal, Montreal Croatia, and Montreal Ramblers joined the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL) to form the league's Eastern Division. Following this,
210-484: A senior national team cap while playing in the L1QC (the year of their first cap while playing in the league is listed). Players who earned caps before or after playing in the L1QC are not included, unless they also earned caps while in the league. This section also does not include youth caps (U23 or below). Semi-professional sports Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on
245-492: A women's division was added, starting with five teams. The start of the 2020 season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic , but it ultimately resumed with a shortened season, although some teams opted out of playing for the season. However, the remainder of the men's season was cancelled about three-quarters of the way through the season, due to a resurgence of the pandemic (the female season had already concluded). In 2022,
280-474: Is a national pro–am soccer organization in Canada. It consists of four regional leagues; League1 Alberta , League1 British Columbia , League1 Ontario , and Ligue1 Québec with each league operating men's and women's divisions. L1C is overseen by Canada Soccer Business, in partnership with participating provincial member federations. League1 Canada is the third tier of the Canadian soccer league system which
315-437: Is held over a single weekend at the end of the season and determines a national champion. The winner of the 2023 tournament qualified for the 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup . The winners of the men's provincial leagues qualify for the following year's Canadian Championship , organized by the Canadian Soccer Association . There are plans for a Men's Inter-Provincial Championship to begin in 2024. From 2014 to 2016, prior to
350-447: Is prohibitive, semi-pro football is common at the adult levels, in the outdoor or indoor variety , providing an outlet for players who have used up their NCAA eligibility and have no further use for maintaining amateur status. As a sport that normally plays only one game per week, American football is especially suited for semi-pro play and commonly known as "working man's" football; meaning the players have regular jobs and play football on
385-581: Is the highest level of pro–am soccer in the country. It is below the Canadian Premier League which is the nation's top-tier professional league. Winners of each provincial league gain entry to the Canadian Championship the following season alongside Canadian Premier League teams and Canadian teams from Major League Soccer . In 2011, the Première ligue de soccer du Québec was established to begin play in 2012, marking
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#1732780116296420-552: The Inter-Provincial Cup was established which would be contested between the champions of each league and ran for three years until 2016. In 2015, the league added its first club from outside of the province of Quebec, with the Ottawa Fury FC Academy joining the league. Beginning in 2018, the league champion qualified to participate in the Canadian Championship for the following season. In 2018,
455-603: The Scottish Premiership , with most teams below the second-level Scottish Championship being semi-professional. Historically, English rugby league and rugby union have had one full-time professional division, with semi-professional divisions at the next level down. The second tier of union, the RFU Championship , became fully professional beginning with the 2009–10 season. League1 Canada League1 Canada ( L1C ; French : Ligue1 Canada )
490-678: The 2024 season with a minimum of six teams. In June 2023, League1 Prairies was announced with plans for the league to operate between Manitoba and Saskatchewan . The league plans to launch for the 2025 season. On December 7, 2023, League1 Canada announced it had reached an agreement with the Alberta Soccer Association to add League1 Alberta to its national alliance of Division III Pro-Am leagues. Later that week, Dino Rossi resigned from his role as League1 Canada president. Each member league determines their own season format and schedules. In 2024, League1 British Columbia and
525-487: The League1 Alberta men's division determined their league champions via a playoff tournament , while all other leagues determined their champions via regular season standings. Not to be confused with a league's playoff phase . The Women's Inter-Provincial Championship is a four-team knockout tournament organized by League1 Canada. It is contested annually by the four provincial league champions. The tournament
560-727: The Olympic Club was accused by a rival club of enticing athletes to jump to its ranks with offers of jobs. An investigation by the Amateur Athletic Union ruled that the Olympics' practice was not actually professionalism but only a "semi" form of it, inventing the term "semi-pro". Although the Amateur Athletic Union did not like the idea very much, it decided that clubs could indeed offer employment without losing their amateur status or compromising
595-577: The PLSQ joined League1 Canada along with League1 Ontario and League1 British Columbia . On April 19, 2023, the league rebranded to Ligue1 Québec to align with its partner leagues. In 2024, it was announced that USL League Two club Vermont Green FC would host the reigning L1Q champion each year in a friendly each year, known as the Maple Cup . Depending on the number of teams in the league, teams will play every other team between 2-4 times per season, for
630-464: The United States, where college ice hockey dominates at that age group; the junior leagues in the United States generally operate as fully amateur teams to maintain the players' eligibility to play in college. Lower-end minor leagues and more obscure sports often operate at a semi-professional level due to cost concerns. Because the cost of running a fully professional American football team
665-554: The amateur Ligue de soccer élite du Québec served as the top level of soccer in the province, although Quebec clubs did play in the United Soccer League ( Montreal Impact ) and the semi-professional Canadian Soccer League ( Laval Dynamites / Trois-Rivières Attak and Montreal Impact Academy ). In 2011, the Première ligue de soccer du Québec was established, marking the return of a semi-professional soccer league to
700-404: The athlete. In North America, semi-professional athletes and teams were far more common in the early and mid-20th century than they are today. Large blue-collar employers such as factories and shipyards often fielded baseball and basketball teams, with players receiving full-time salaries comparable to other employees. In theory, such players split their work week between athletic training and
735-603: The attendant scholarships , in maintaining amateur status (unlike the Amateur Athletic Union, the NCAA forbade any sort of compensation outside of scholarships, including job offers tied to their playing, until 2020). Eligibility for participation in the Olympics in some sports is still dependent upon maintaining a purely amateur status (although far less so than was previously the case), and such athletes may be supported by government money, business sponsorships, and other systems. At
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#1732780116296770-435: The employees are allowed to play on. In this case, it is considered semi-pro because their employer pays them, but for their regular job, not for playing on the company's team. The semi-professional status is not universal throughout the world and depends on each country's labour code and each sports organization's specific regulations. The San Francisco Olympic Club fielded an American football team in 1890. That year,
805-454: The league's inception. Blainville has been the most successful club, winning the league championship four times and the league cup twice and CS Mont-Royal Outremont has been second-most successful with four league championships and one league cup title. The following eleven teams are members of the league for the 2024 season: The following twelve teams are members of the league for the 2022 season: The following players have earned
840-521: The national third tier with regional division, along with three other provincial leagues. The men's league champion qualifies for the Canadian Championship , Canada's domestic cup tournament. The history of soccer in Quebec dates back to 1884, with the first league established in 1886. In 1911, the Province of Quebec Football Association, now known as the Quebec Soccer Federation was founded. In 1986,
875-590: The normal duties of the company's employees, though highly competitive teams often evolved into "sponsored" squads which trained for sports full-time and only nominally worked in the factory. The National Industrial Basketball League evolved out of these company-branded basketball teams. By the 1940s, baseball split off into separate truly amateur softball teams, sometimes sponsored by employers, and an expanded system of fully professionalized minor leagues whose lower ranks included many former industrial players. There are many benefits, such as collegiate eligibility and
910-613: The province for the first time in 20 years. The league was sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association as a level 3 league, below Major League Soccer (level 1) and the North American Soccer League and United Soccer League (level 2), which were American-based fully professional leagues featuring some Canadian teams, including the Montreal Impact of the MLS. The league had its debut season in 2012 with
945-498: The return of semi-professional soccer in the province of Quebec. In 2013, League1 Ontario was founded as a semi-professional league by the Ontario Soccer Association to begin play in 2014 with a men's division, followed by a women's division in 2015. After multiple years of consideration, League1 British Columbia began play in 2022 in both the male and female divisions. On March 31, 2022, League1 Canada
980-407: The same time, professional sports have become such a massive and remunerative business that even many low-level feeder teams can afford to have fully professional athletes. In Canada, semi-professionalism is prevalent in junior ice hockey , in which the top level players (most of whom are teenagers still in, or just out of, high school) are paid at a semi-professional level. This is not the case in
1015-594: The short summer seasons and low salaries require players to hold jobs in the offseason to make ends meet. There are several hundred semi-professional football teams at non-League level. The bottom division of the English Football League (the fourth tier of the English football league system ) has traditionally been the cut-off point between professional ("full-time") and semi-professional ("part-time") in English football . However, many teams in
1050-455: The top four teams from league play in a single-knockout tournament. In the past, the cup has also used a group stage and knockout format where three groups of three teams were formed, and the winner of each group along with the best second-place finisher advanced to the semi-finals. Over the course of its history, various clubs have joined and departed the league. A.S. Blainville is the only club to have participated in every season since
1085-422: The top levels, as finances depend on promotion and relegation both of parent male teams and of the female teams themselves. Full professionalism for women is still in the planning stages; top female players often depend on other sources of income (such as coaching and physical training), and many attend university or college while playing. In Scottish football , semi-professional teams compete at all levels below
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1120-538: The top non-League competition, the National League , have become "full-time" professional clubs in an effort to achieve League status. Many former League clubs also remain as fully professional teams following relegation to the lower leagues at least for as long as they retain a large enough average attendance to generate the income needed to pay the players. Women's football in England is semi-professional at
1155-538: The weekends. In the 20th century the term "semi-pro football league" refer to higher level amateur leagues, though the players do not get paid, the leagues and the games are run in a somewhat professional manner. The National Lacrosse League , whose teams also typically play only one game per week, pays a salary that is enough to be considered fully professional, but players also are able to pursue outside employment to supplement their income. The lowest levels of organized baseball are also effectively semi-professional, as
1190-475: Was a four-team knockout tournament featuring the champions of each of the three divisions, as well as an additional team from the PLSQ (allocated as host). A.S. Blainville won the inaugural title. The 2023 tournament was held in British Columbia. In March 2023, League1 Alberta was announced with a five-team exhibition series to be played that summer. The league plans to officially launch for
1225-537: Was announced as an alliance of the three existing division three pro-am leagues, aligning the national soccer pathway. L1O and L1BC adopted new logos that day, while the PLSQ transitioned to a common logo and rebranded to Ligue1 Québec in 2023. Dino Rossi became the first league president in May 2022. From August 12 to 14, 2022, the inaugural Women's Inter-Provincial Championship was held in Laval, Quebec . The competition
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