Originally posted June 12
It has been almost three months since seven Ottawa clubs started the Ottawa Player Development Program (OPDP) and they just completed their fourth round of Sunday evening games June 11. A summary of the situation was posted May 25 with almost 1,500 views as of June 11 and despite numerous complaints, including from many parents whose children have been affected, Ontario Soccer has still not come out with any public statement about the unsanctioned league.
It has been almost three months since seven Ottawa clubs started the Ottawa Player Development Program (OPDP) and they just completed their fourth round of Sunday evening games June 11. A summary of the situation was posted May 25 with almost 1,500 views as of June 11 and despite numerous complaints, including from many parents whose children have been affected, Ontario Soccer has still not come out with any public statement about the unsanctioned league.
As could have been anticipated, the following negative consequences have resulted:
- Uncompetitive games. OPDP clubs entered their T2 teams into the ERSL at T1, meaning that clubs not part of the OPDP with T1 teams are facing weak competition, leading to uncompetitive games that hurt the development of both the genuine T1 teams and the T2 teams from OPDP clubs that are playing up. A similar dynamic exists at T2 where OPDP clubs moved their T3 teams. U9-U12 is considered the golden years of development yet some clubs are essentially facing a lost summer of appropriate competition. Some non-OPDP clubs are playing stronger teams up a year for a greater challenge and are encountering larger less skilled players, which increases the risk of injury to the underage team.
OPDP clubs may celebrate the benefits of their league but any benefit is offset by a greater detriment to other EODSA clubs. The district has a responsibility to create an environment where every member club is given an equal opportunity to succeed. - Playing two games a week. Because the OPDP is playing games on Sunday while the ERSL games are Monday to Thursday, OPDP clubs have the option of players participating in both competitions, which goes against Ontario Soccer rules which only allow one league game per week (with occasional exceptions for certain reasons). As someone noted in a response to an earlier post:
"My daughter's team (u10) who play ERSL T1 this year was asked to play as a fill-in for the OPDP. When our coach looked into it, they would be playing 12 Sundays till end of August (hardly a fill-in). This would include our ERSL games on Tuesday. Our coach was also told by the club that it was ok to play more than 2 games per week even though they only practice 2 times. According to LPTD U10 girls should only play 1 game for every 2 to 3 training sessions. Something is really wrong here…"
The number of games a player plays in the ERSL at U9 to U12 is automatically tracked when game sheets are created. No such mechanism exists for the OPDP so there is no easy way to determine how many total games a player has participated in. - Uncertainty about level of play. Players and their families from T2 teams from OPDP clubs are confused about their team’s level of play. In the ERSL, they are playing T1, but in festivals, they could be entered at T2, their actual skill level.
- Illegal recruiting. Strong players from clubs not in the OPDP are being actively encouraged to leave the clubs they are registered with to join OPDP clubs in order to compete against the higher level of competition in the OPDP. The Ontario Soccer penalties for “inducing or attempting to induce a registered player to leave his/her team before the end of that team’s current playing season” is a 6-12 month suspension for a team official (2.72) or administrator (3.72) and a $1,000 fine to the club (5.72).
Some of these players are being registered with OPDP clubs without first being released by the club they first signed up with, which also contradicts Ontario Soccer rules (5.2.12a: “a grassroots player may only be registered at any one time with one Club”). The fines for playing an ineligible player are 3-12 months for an administrator (3.63) and $500 for the club (5.63). If game sheets for OPDP games are being submitted to the EODSA, then the EODSA should be able to easily identify what ineligible players have participated in OPDP games.
If a number of players leave a team for an OPDP club, it could also result in the team not having enough players to continue in the ERSL, with the club that has to withdraw the team facing fines and other associated costs. How is it fair that clubs that are following the rules are effectively being punished by the actions of clubs that are breaking the rules? - Unjustified secrecy. Families from some OPDP teams are being expected to maintain a certain level of secrecy regarding their league. In response to parents making the May 8 email from OSU public, OPDP teams at OSU were sent a follow up email from the club May 29 where they were asked to inform the club if they knew who shared the May 8 email. Two parents wanted to make the full email public but were too scared that they would be found out and their child kicked off their team. Why is general communication on games something that families have to keep secret? If the OPDP clubs feel they are not doing anything wrong, why the secrecy? How is it right that parents are feeling so threatened by their own club?
- Arbitrary exclusion. Most importantly, children are now operating in a climate where they no longer have confidence that they will be treated according their abilities as players and as teams - where it is possible for those with power to exclude them.
Some within OPDP clubs have suggested that it is false to claim that the OPDP still exists. Whether it goes by that name or something else (some are now referring to it as the U9 to U12 Elite League), it is clearly happening. The only thing that changed at the end of April was the removal of the OPDP website:
- Ottawa Internationals club official referred to the league as the OPDP is a May 12 email
- The EODSA-sanctioned referee website was still listing the OPDP as a league option as of June 4 [it should be noted that a match official who “officiated an unsanctioned or unaffiliated soccer game” faces a 30-day suspension (4.58) and who “directly or indirectly encouraged or assisted in the establishment of an unsanctioned soccer organization or competition” faces a 6-12 month suspension (4.75]:
- Ottawa South United continues to give schedules of the Sunday-evening competition to its teams
- Gloucester Hornets website still describes a Sunday-evening competition as of June 11
- Ottawa City website still describes a Sunday-evening competition as of June 11
- West Ottawa Soccer website still describes a Sunday-evening competition as of June 11
Ontario Soccer has been quick to speak out against other unsanctioned activity (for example, two clear emails, on February 15 and April 10, about an unsanctioned soccer organization in Ottawa) but initially let a compromised EODSA deal with the OPDP and then allowed themselves to parrot the lie that it had ceased operations. A situation where the biggest clubs in a district are collectively breaking the rules should have resulted in an immediate response from Ontario Soccer. Is it protecting the larger clubs in Ottawa from sanction because they are part of provincial programs like the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL - for U13 and up) and the semi-professional League 1? Rules primarily exist to protect the vulnerable and should not be ignored to protect the powerful. The integrity of Ontario Soccer is at stake: when will it act? Will Ontario Soccer live up to its slogan? Play. Inspire. Unite.
If fines are collected from clubs who are breaking the rules, will the money be made available through the EODSA to those non-OPDP clubs who have been financially impacted by the OPDP and to those families from non-OPDP clubs whose children have been denied the competitive opportunity they signed up for in good faith trusting that the rules would be followed?
Ontario Soccer officials:
Canada Soccer officials:
EODSA officials:
Please share this
post and contact soccer officials and political and city leaders to share your
concerns. Soccer authorities who are in a position to address this
issue are listed below.
If you have already contacted Ontario Soccer about this
issue and not received a satisfactory answer, please follow up. If you have not
contacted Ontario Soccer yet, please consider doing so. Here is possible text
for an email (Cc officials of the EODSA and Canada Soccer):
- Dear
Ontario Soccer,
Clubs and families are being negatively affected by an unsanctioned league operating in Ottawa (see fairnessinottawasoccer.org for a detailed description of the impacts). Why has the league existed for almost three months and Ontario Soccer apparently done nothing? Will Ontario Soccer enforce it rules and seek to apply its published penalties of a minimum six-month suspension for an official involved and a fine to the club of as much as $1,000 per game?
The smaller clubs in Ottawa are depending on Ontario Soccer to ensure that there is fair access to competitive soccer. I look forward to your response.
Ontario Soccer officials:
- Ron Smale, President, rsmale@ontariosoccer.net
- Johnny Misley, Executive Director, jmisley@ontariosoccer.net
- Gary Miller, Technical Director, gmiller@ontariosoccer.net
- Billy Wilson, Manager - Player Development, bwilson@ontariosoccer.net
- Dave Kelly, Regional Manager - Player Development, dkelly@ontariosoccer.net
- Charonne Thomasos, Manager - Administration, cthomasos@ontariosoccer.net
- Ryan Tuske, Coordinator - Events, rtuske@ontariosoccer.net
Canada Soccer officials:
- Jason deVos, Director of Development, jdevos@canadasoccer.com
- Ray Clark, Director of Coaching and Player Development, rclark@canadasoccer.com
EODSA officials:
- Brian Mason, President, president@eodsa.ca
- Dinis Oliveira, Director of Discipline, directordiscipline@eodsa.ca
- Joe Scheier, Acting Executive Director, admin@eodsa.ca
