It’s not any one thing Rocco Romeo can point to directly and hold up as concrete evidence. It’s more of a vibe or a feeling and he feels it growing already just one week into Valour FC training camp.
True, it’s early. And almost certainly the same narrative is playing out all across the Canadian Premier League map.
Still, hope can be a powerful thing — especially for a franchise still chasing its first-ever playoff berth. And so can a collective hunger.
“Look at any successful team that won in this league, Pacific, Forge, Cavalry… they had a bond and a trust within their teams and within each other,” began the big centre back in a recent chat with valourfootball.club. “I want to grow in this team, and I believe we have the guys that can do it.
“We’re all hungry. We all have the same mentality. There’s a look in everyone’s eyes and it’s something that doesn’t really need to be said. It’s exciting. It’s something that puts a fire in your ass, if you will.”
Valour will be on the field here in Winnipeg all this week before heading to Vancouver next Tuesday for outdoor training and a pair of friendlies against Whitecaps 2 and Vancouver FC. There’s a buzz growing with the squad, bolstered by some recent additions with CPL experience like Romeo and Kris Twardek along with Kelsey Egwu and Eleias Himaras, two Portuguese prospects in Xavier Venâncio and Bruno Figueiredo, plus the return of 10 veterans from last year’s team as well as good health for Kian Williams, who missed all of 2024 with a knee injury.
“When a moment like this came up it wasn’t something I was going to pass on,” said Romeo of his return to Valour, where he played in 2021-22 before spending the last two years with Vancouver FC. “The culture we want to build here is all about winning.
“I’m not trying to discredit anything with my former clubs, but I don’t want to be part of a youth movement any more. I’m going to be 25 this year and I want to be competing for a playoff spot and championships. I’ve been in the league going on four seasons now. Four years and I haven’t made the playoffs. Last year was a very tough gut blow personally just because of how well the team did, how good of a roster we have. And then seeing us fall so deep from where we were earlier in the year is something I don’t want to be a part of again.
“Coming to this environment with experienced players and guys who are hungry and want to compete, all the way from ownership to the coaching staff, to the players, the trainers, to the kitchen staff… everyone has the same mentality and I’m very excited.”
The landscape has changed since Romeo’s first run with Valour. He’s more experienced now and has become a leadership voice in the room. That comes with 87 CPL matches to his name, along with five Canadian Championship contests.
“Coming back now and with my age and almost reaching 100 appearances in the league I’m an experienced player now,” he said. “The first time I came to Valour I was 21 and still somewhat a kid. I had some experiences at Toronto FC and overseas in the Danish first division (HB Koge) but I was still earning my stripes learning from the likes of Daryl Fordyce, Brett Levis, Andrew Jean-Baptiste — those guys were very big role models for me in my first time at Valour. They took me under my wing and taught me so much on and off the field about what it took to become a professional and hold the leadership status with a club.
“This industry, working in athletics as a player, only lasts for so long,” he added. “I want to look back on my career and say that I accomplished something successful. As a pro player I haven’t been a part of a team that won any hardware or been in a playoff environment and that’s something I really want to achieve, and I believe Winnipeg and Valour is the place to do it.
“You have to have faith in yourself and faith in your group and then let everything take care of itself.”
ready to roc.
hear from defender, Rocco Romeo about his first couple weeks back in the Peg.
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— Valour FC (@ValourFootball) February 24, 2025