Sudbury Canadians AGM Planning

[sudcan]

Sudbury Canadians AGM Annual Review Oct.2004

Key Highlights

• International and National Recruitment

• Increased Focus on Player Development

• Super Y Involvement

• Enhance Administration

• Government Involvement

The Sudbury Canadians have had an opportunity to review their USL involvement and have now moved to more specific planning and goal setting. As with most organizations, annual reviews help focus and direct future planning.

Our review of the Club’s performance both on and off the field has yielded a number of important planning decisions.

USL Impact on the North

First it is very important to note that the USL experience may very well be the most exciting soccer event that has occurred in our part of the North for some time. This was made evident by the local fans, the media and the strong support the Club received from businesses and the different levels of government.

The Club’s five year USL plan is designed to enhance the North’s participation at this level of play. The Plan is also designed to expand the exposure of Northern Ontario in an international sports market.

The North’s participation in the USL has also created many NCAA and CIS scholarship opportunities. The Club is pleased to note the Sudbury Canadian players Megan Schutt, Atlanta 10 Conference 2003 Rookie of the Year and Lauren Podolski, currently sporting the most points for a rookie in her Conference with Indiana State are creating opportunities for many young players in the North. These USL players and others are making their mark in the NCAA Division One soccer and as a result American Universities are scouting North Ontario players like never before!

The Sudbury Canadians are also proud of their contribution to the Laurentian University soccer team with goalies Julia Boschetto and Katie McNamara defenders Melynda Roach, Sally Parent and Lauren Duhaime. The Laurentian club has not been scored on this year and has set a team record in this regard.

All in all the USL contribution to the Northern Ontario soccer has been significant in all respects.

USL W League Team.

In 2004 the Sudbury Canadians employed soccer players strictly from Northern Ontario and while many of these young players clearly proved that they could play at this level, it is clear that the Club will have to expand their recruiting circle. The Club understands the challenges inherent in bringing top recruits to Sudbury however, the first step in the process will be to systematically reach out. A number of measures have been undertaken in this regard.

The Club is also working with other Canadian based USL teams to further promote the sport in Canada.

Player Development

The Sudbury Canadians soccer Club is committed to developing players in Northern Ontario. In order to ensure that there is a steady stream of top Northern recruits, it is imperative that the Club invests in northern youth. In this regard the Club has and will continue to offer support to other soccer organizations in the North.

The Club will focus on the two main components: Training and Competition.

Enhanced Training will become a key commitment and the Club will direct more resources to training.

Competition at the highest level is also very important to player development and will be the Club’s primary focus. The Canadians, where possible, will use OSA fixtures but will also actively pursue USL Super Y participation as well as participation in other major North American tournament competitions.

This year the Club has put forward a number of Super Y teams and despite last year’s OSA flip flop, the Club is confident that they will be afforded the same treatment as other USL Ontario and Canadian USL clubs that have Super Y teams. The Club is also fully aware of the geographically disadvantage inherent in OYSL and Super Y participation however the Club is poised to commit more funds that will close this gap.

Administration

The Club’s experience this past summer has also highlighted some improvements that the Club needs to make in their overall administration. While the Club is delighted with the support they have received to date and the many people who have provided assistance to this USL venture, the Club plans to continue to formalize this very important aspect of the franchise.

Thank You

The Club also wants to take this opportunity to thank all of our many volunteers who have helped our non-profit organization over the years. We also want to acknowledge and thank the different levels of government who have directly contributed to this venture.

FEDNOR: Federal Government

THE ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION: Provincial Government

Minister Rick Bartolucci MNMD: Provincial Government

City of Greater Sudbury

We also need to acknowledge the great enthusiasm shown by the Sudbury Star and MCTV (CTV TSN Network) in support of soccer in the North.

Sudbury Canadians Soccer Club

[beachesl]

Great stuff!

(You guys should be running the CSA.)

Thanks for sharing this with us, and keep up the good work!

[sudcan]

SUDBURY, Ont. – Laurentian Athletics is pleased to announce the Lady Vees’ soccer team as September’s Team of the Month. In the month of September, the Lady Vees made a statement to the rest of the OUA by going undefeated with a record of 3-0-4 and not allowing a goal against in any of the 7 games they have played thus far.

The Lady Vees strong dedication to defense has been their foundation for their great results. This season the Vees are off to the best start in the teams 5 year history. They are currently sitting in second place in the North division, one point back of the first place York Lions. The Vees also have the distinction of being the only women’s soccer team in the nation who has yet to allow a goal against in regular season play.

Vees head coach Rob Gallo stated, “They are the best team we have had in our short 5 years of existence in the OUA. They have battled through injuries never making an excuse and always finding ways to succeed.”

Standout players for the Vees include the goalkeeping tandem of Julia Boschetto (Sudbury, Ont.) and Katie McNamara (Sudbury) who have 3 and 4 shutouts on the season respectively. These women have shown they are among the elite goalkeepers in the CIS. Offensively, the Vees have truly executed by committee with Erin Wilkes (Etobicoke, Ont.), Marissa Izma (Stratford, Ont.), Jolene Fournier (Fredericton, NB), Amanda Riley (Toronto) and Kristy MacKenzie (Sudbury) all contributing goals with only Wilkes having scored more than once.

“They are a tremendous group of young gifted athletes who are committed to each other and the team. Each has played their hearts out game in and game out,” said Gallo. “We are very proud of them as they are proud of wearing the Blue and Gold and making their University proud.”

connection - goalies and some key players play for USL Sudbury Canadians

[hamiltonfan]

SudCan, are there any plans for the Canadians to add a PDL team? The Sudbury-Thunder Bay rival could be huge. Having both a w-league and PDL team in Sudbury team would be HUGE for soccer in the city.

[sudcan]

Thank you for the question. Sorry for the late response I have been out of town. The topic of the PDL has come up, informally and in the context of some general discussions regarding an associate club in our area. As you may be aware the Sudbury Canadians are female focused hence some changes would have to be made to facilitate movement toward PDL.

It would be inappropriate to suggest that these were serious discussions and hence for the most part we would have to say that a PDL is not on the immediate radar. However we would not categorically rule it out.

Interestingly enough in our portion of Northern Ontario we do not have a historical rivalry with Thunder Bay clubs, in fact most of our local clubs very rarely encounter each other. The primary reason is distance. TB is 8 to 9 hours away from us whereas the GTA and the northern portion of the US would range from 4 to 6 hours. The range of our more common rivalries would be east as far as Montreal (six hours) on the west side London 5.1/2 hours, Buffalo and Rochester about six plus hours to the south and all points in between.

Having said this we have the ultimate respect for the TB Chill. They are in fact the NFL Green Bay of the USL PDL when comes to community size and franchise success. They are very much a model.

If we ever had to play them I am sure in due course we would have a great rivalry but it would have little to do with proximity.

[Elias]

quote:Originally posted by sudcan

Interestingly enough in our portion of Northern Ontario we do not have a historical rivalry with Thunder Bay clubs, in fact most of our local clubs very rarely encounter each other. The primary reason is distance. TB is 8 to 9 hours away from us whereas the GTA and the northern portion of the US would range from 4 to 6 hours. The range of our more common rivalries would be east as far as Montreal (six hours) on the west side London 5.1/2 hours, Buffalo and Rochester about six plus hours to the south and all points in between.

Ya think anybody south of Sudbury knew that []

It looks like Sudbury is a well run organization so would be good for Canadian soccer if a PDL club was coming to Sudbury. The soccer pyramid is not going to be filled by blue prints and bs, it will happen slowly as private investors and as communities get behind clubs and grow them one member at a time.

Keep up the good work Sudbury! And hopefully one day you can have a great rivalry with your neighbours in Thunder Bay []