VAUGHAN, ON – Tuesday, November 8, 2005 – The Ontario Soccer Association’s 2005 Play Soccer Conference wound up in the late afternoon on Monday, marking several milestones in this annual event.
Starting on Friday, November 4th with a Press Conference announcing The OSA’s new partnership with Everton Football Club of the English Premiere League and ending with an “I would like to discuss ...” workshop aimed at identifying ways to improve operations and customer service at Club, District Association and OSA levels, the 4-day Play Soccer Conference was a whirlwind of activity, information exchange and celebration involving over 1,200 participants from across Ontario.
Friday's agenda included an all-day OSA Board of Directors meeting with representatives from all 21 District Associations. The Board reviewed all the OSA program areas including the Minutes of all committee meetings and addressed the various financial statements for the last and current fiscal years as well as budget assumptions for the next fiscal year. The Board made decisions in regard to requests for policy changes under the RFD process and various applications for approval by Board.
Tosh Farrell running a drill at the Ontario Soccer Centre and pointing out "The Everton Way"
 A highlight of the weekend was the Coaching Conferenceon Saturday which featured guest coaches Tosh Farrell and Sean Lundon from the Everton Football Club who ran clinics demonstrating Everton Youth Academy’s “The Everton Way” for the benefit of a record 650 coaches in attendance. Canadian National Team Assistant Coach, Colin Miller, and U17 National Team Coach, Steve Hart, together with the unflagging efforts of a skilled team of local U15 and NTCO players rounded out the demonstration drills at the Ontario Soccer Centre.
Giving the players a well-deserved break, Everton Youth Academy Manager, Ray Hall, delivered an inspirational presentation on “The Everton Way” which featured several renowned alumni, including Wayne Rooney, one of the top soccer players in the world today.
Local U15 and National Training Center Ontario (NTCO) players demonstrated "The Ontario Soccer Everton Way"
In the course of the proceedings, Steve Donaldson of the West Rouge Soccer Club was presented the Investor’s Group Sport Award as the year’s top team manager.
Out-going Treasurer, Vince Ursini, addresses AGM
Across town at the airport Wyndham Bristol, the OSA's Annual General Meeting was being held with over 125 delegates from all parts of the province in attendance. The meeting received the AGM Report Book which included reports from the Secretary, Treasurer, Executive Director, Committees, Tasks Forces, registration, competitions and the 21 District Associations. Addressing the meeting were Andy Sharpe, President of the Canadian Soccer Association and Keith Wyness, Chief Executive of the Everton Football Club.
The Ontario Soccer Association Board of Directors
The 2005 Board elections included Colin Linford as President, Chris Graham as Treasurer, Bill Boyle and Bill Spiers as Directors-At-Large and the following Directors: Helen Woolvett, Steve Troy, Bill Spence, Mladen Moric, Shahe Emerzian, Gerry Foley, Mark Ling, Savas Kekkas and Bill Condy who join the other OSA Board members not up for election. President Colin Linford thanked out-going Board members Vince Ursini, Marc Thibault, Garry Boldt and Murdoch Carter for their many years of dedicated service to The OSA. The Meritorious Service Awards were presented to Jim Pitfield (Individual) and Tony Pavia (Media). The Annual Meeting was followed by a series of Play Soccer 2005 Seminars on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning which provided attendees with the opportunity to share information and have questions answered by the guest facilitators.
 Over 430 people attended the Saturday evening Awards Banquet with Gerry Dobson and Craig Forrest of Rogers Sportsnet sharing the Master of Ceremony platform. Some 50 awards were presented in recognition of the achievements and successes of players, coaches, administrators and participants in soccer, including Ontario Cup winners, Ontario Indoor Cup winners, and Provincial Team players and coaches. The presenters included Ray Hall, Everton FC Academy Manager, Keith Wyness, Everton FC Chief Executive, Vince Ursini, out-going OSA Treasurer (left) and Colin Miller, Men's National Team Assistant Coach (right).
Special presentations were made to Dan McClenaghan (Individual Meritorious Service Award) and the Newmarket Soccer Club (Club Meritorious Service Award). Guest Speaker, Keith Wyness, Chef Executive of the Everton Football Club regaled the gathering with tall tales of “football” in the United Kingdom.
Ian Skitch, OSA Staff, presents an overview of the Coaching Development Program at the District Administrators Workshop
The Women's Pyramid For Play Workshop attracted over 40 participants. It was kicked off by former OSA intern, Marloes van der Leeuw, who presented the results of the Women's Pyramid For Play on-line survey conducted this past summer. The presentations from National Women's Team Coach, Even Pellerud, OSA Provincial Coach, Sophie Hearn, and Lyndon Hooper, brother of Charmaine Hooper, were extremely informative. In addition to providing technical expertise, these presentations served as the catalyst for some meaningful discussion in the small group sessions. The workshop participants did both a SWOT Analysis (identifying strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) in addition to a Gap Analysis (to identify the missing parts of the women's pyramid at the provincial and regional levels) with respect to Ontario's Women's Pyramid For Play.
Women's Pyramid For Play Workshop
The Men's Pyramid For Play Workshop attracted 20 participants. Even Pellerud made a presentation about the men's game in Canada and former National Team Member, Lyndon Hooper described the importance of various leagues in advancing his career from local senior soccer to a professional soccer career and the Canadian National Men's team, with special emphasis on the OSA's Petro Canada League in the 80's and our most recent national league, the Canadian Soccer League. OSA Regional Coach, Mark Marshall, spoke on behalf of the OSA's Provincial Team program and Josef Komlodi (Club Head Coach for Erin Mills S.C.) presented a proposal for a PDL league in Ontario. Again, a SWOT and Gap Analysis on the Men's Pyramid For Play in Ontario provided stimulus for the small group sessions.
Martin Harvey, OSA Technical Committee, addresses Club Head Coaches Workshop
The Discipline and Appeals Committee hosted an "I want to Discuss ... " workshop with about 35 people in attendance, all of whom are involved in discipline in their districts. Many interesting questions and discussions developed from this workshop and the committee will be bringing these questions and suggestions to the committee table the next time they meet.
In addition to celebrating the many successes of Ontario soccer players, coaches, referees, administrators, volunteers, sponsors and supporters at this annual event, the 2005 Play Soccer Conference served to advance the goals of the Ontario Soccer Association to promote participation and pursue excellence at all levels.
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The Ontario Soccer Association was founded in 1901 and is one of the oldest and largest sport organizations in Canada. The Association’s mission is to provide the opportunity for any person to play organized soccer and to assist participants in reaching their potential through the provision of programs for developing players, coaches, referees and administrators in the Province of Ontario.
The Association comprises 21 Districts and 12 Associate Members (Regional and Provincial leagues) who represent 290 Youth and 860 Senior Clubs across Ontario. The OSA Membership includes some 365,000 Outdoor Players, 73,000 Indoor Players, 25,000 Coaches, 10,000 Referees and 14,000 volunteer and professional Administrators from 7 Regions across Ontario.
For more information, visit The Ontario Soccer Association website at: www.soccer.on.ca and the Everton FC website at www.evertonfc.com |