Canada Soccer, under recommendation from legal counsel, has opted to abide by the Ontario Superior Court ruling of 1 October 2014 and accept the Ontario Soccer Association’s decision to designate the West Toronto Cobras as the province’s representative at the 2014 Canada Soccer Sport Chek National Championships Boys U-16 Cup.

As such, the West Toronto Cobras will be competing at the 2014 Canada Soccer Sport Chek National Championships – Boys U-16 Cup that kicks off Wednesday 8 October in Mount Pearl, NL. Canada Soccer and the Ontario Soccer Association tried to broker a deal that, in the spirit of fair play, would have allowed two clubs to attend the 2014 Canada Soccer Sport Chek National Championships – namely the West Toronto Cobras and the Woodbridge Strikers, who have been denied participation in the national championship as a result of the court ruling. Regrettably, an agreement could not be reached.

This unfortunate incident has highlighted the need for Canada Soccer to work with its Provincial and Territorial Member Associations to change and align their respective by-laws so situations like these do not continue to negatively impact our participants and tarnish the reputation of our beautiful game. Such national alignment and cooperation would not only provide Canada Soccer’s Provincial and Territorial Partners the ability and accountability to manage disputes like this one without interference from the court system, but would also guide the Canadian soccer system towards a more seamless operation across the country, consistent with what Canada Soccer has set out to do with its strategic objective of governing the game in Canada professionally.

The Canada Soccer Sport Chek National Championships are the umbrella for Canada’s premier amateur clubs competition in the country and, across their four categories - the Challenge Trophy (men) and Jubilee Trophy (women), the U-18 Cup (men and women), the U-16 Cup (boys and girls), and the U-14 Cup (boys and girls), are one of the largest national championship competition held in Canada annual over one single week.