Atlético Ottawa has announced that local defender Tyr Walker will remain with the club until the end of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season under his U SPORTS contract.

Walker joined Atlético Ottawa earlier in the campaign, having impressed during pre-season in Madrid. The 19-year-old has gone on to feature twice for the club, making his debut in the dying minutes of a massive win away to Vancouver FC before being relied upon in a hard-fought draw at Pacific FC.

The Russell, ON native was a part of St. Anthony Futuro Soccer Club’s academy (one of 14 clubs in the ‘Powered by Atlético Ottawa Program’) at the youth level before being selected to participate in the Atlético de Madrid Development Program in Ottawa last year. He subsequently was invited to pre-season in Spain and has gone from strength to strength as a part of the first-team setup.

“We are determined to keep fostering the growth of local soccer talent and Tyr is the prime example of that work,” said Atlético Ottawa CEO Fernando López. “The Powered by Atlético Program was put in place to help support the development of youth players in the Ottawa and Gatineau region, before helping the best transition into a professional environment. We are delighted to see how Tyr has improved and are excited to see more local talents join him in our first team.”

🔴⚪️ Congratulations to Tyr Walker on making his professional debut 👏✅

The local boy representing his home club 🏡🥲

🎥: @onesoccer #ForOttawa | #PourOttawa pic.twitter.com/Crq1b0KLVS

— Atlético Ottawa (@atletiOttawa) May 14, 2023

Walker will remain with Atlético Ottawa’s first team squad until the end of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season, at which point he will rejoin the U SPORTS set up with local university team Carlton Ravens.