Jenn Ko, Centretown News
The West Ottawa Soccer Club U14 Girls team practises at the Algonquin College Soccer Complex. Coach Mike Lanos is considering legal action against the Ottawa Soccer Association.When the Ontario Soccer Association created a new high-performance league to phase out its youth soccer league, the goal was an elite experience for Ontario’s most talented young players.
“They want to give the elite players in Ontario the experience of a pro atmosphere,” says Bruce Hartill, an operations assistant with the West Ottawa Soccer Club. “They’re trying to give them an experience at the highest level.”
Created in 2014, the Ontario Player Development League is billed on the Ontario Soccer Association’s website as “the province’s first standards-based, youth high-performance league.”
It requires affiliated clubs apply for a license and be “worthy of training and developing the province’s best.”
Teams must meet a long list of stringent training requirements. Those requirements include a ratio of three practices to every game, with additional fitness and conditioning sessions.
The league also insists coaches be nationally certified. As of 2016, there were 20 clubs across the province that held a license,
Included in those teams are the West Ottawa Soccer Club and Ottawa South United Soccer Club.
“It’s faster because it’s the best players from each team,” says Jenna Matsukubo, who plays wing and attacking forward with the West Ottawa Soccer Club U14 Girls team. “And the skills are better.”
Matsukubo is a 14-year-old Grade 9 student at Glebe Collegiate Institute. She lives in Old Ottawa South and previously played for the Ottawa Internationals.
Matsukubo spends 40-minutes commuting each way to the West Ottawa Soccer Club located in Kanata, which isn’t unusual for players.
The club draws players from across the Ottawa region, including Centretown.
The Ontario Player Development League didn’t just change the atmosphere of competition in Ontario, it also changed the way players are selected for the provincial – and eventually national – team.
“The Ontario Soccer Association has basically mandated that they’re only going to be picking the provincial program through the OPDL,” says Kwame Telemaque, head coach of the West Ottawa Soccer Club U14 and U15 Girls teams.
“If you’re not in an OPDL club, your chance of being selected for a provincial program is very slim.”
Because it offers regular scouting opportunities, many players and their families are willing to travel great lengths and give up their evenings so their child can have a shot at the provincial team.
And while there’s a big time commitment, the financial commitment is even bigger.
“Not all the top players are in it because it’s not a cheap program,” says Hartill. Telemaque agrees.
“You’re never truly going to get the best, top players because of cost. Some families just can’t afford it,” he says.
Telemaque estimates the cost is between $3,000 and $6,000 per player, per season. He says the club has some financial assistance programs, but wants the league to do more. “I hope they do set some exemptions for players who are of the standards and of the talent to be included in provincial programs.”
So where does that leave players talented enough to play on a provincial or national team, who can’t afford to pay the Ontario Player Development League’s expensive fees?
Unfortunately, it leaves them off the roster with few – if any – opportunities to compete at the highest level.
Some parents, such as Shanna Slater, say there needs to be more help for families who can’t afford to enroll their children with Ontario Player Development League-licensed teams.
“There’s a lot of kids that probably aren’t playing because they simply can’t afford it. The financial assistance programs that are out there are insufficient,” says Slater, who acknowledges facilities and travel fees add up quickly. Her daughter Sarah Eden plays on the West Ottawa Soccer Club U15 team.
“I’m not saying that it’s not worth the cost,” says Slater. “But you know, maybe someday we’ll do more . . . so players that may be falling through the cracks, where they can’t truly afford it, are going to get their opportunities.”