We are excited to let you know about a new Long Term Player Development (LTPD) Technical program being delivered by Ontario Soccer.

The objective of the Game Leader program is to allow for an improved, child friendly approach to supervising small sided games for children U6-U8 and creating more opportunities for parents to get involved. The Game Leader program has been designed by Ontaro Soccer Grassroots, Referee and Coaching departments. It is supported and endorsed by the Canadian Soccer Association.

The Game Leader will be trained to achieve a few objectives on the field:

1. Enable children to have a fun and rewarding experience while competing in small sided games.
2. Ensure player safety.
3. Implement simplified rules while keeping the game moving -- limiting stoppages and assisting the young players with all restarts.

The Game Leader can be a club representative, coach, parent or a beginning or senior referee who has been selected by the club or district to participate in the Game Leader Instruction program.

The Game Leader program aims to allow for an improved, child-friendly approach to supervising small-sided games, while creating more opportunities for participation in Grassroots Soccer. The Game Leader program was designed by Ontario Soccer in 2014 for age groups U6-U8. The program is supported and endorsed by Canada Soccer.

In 2019, Ontario Soccer will conduct an evaluation on the role of Game Leaders and Match Officials at the U9 age group. Ontario Soccer, along with the host organization, will evaluate the U9 games involving Game Leaders and Match Officials.

Organizations participating in this evaluation are asked to provide Ontario Soccer with an opportunity to compare the use of Game Leaders and Match Officials for their U9 festivals.

The purpose of the evaluation is to measure the effectiveness of Game Leaders and Match Officials at the U9 age group, along with identifying possible enhancements for educational material for all stakeholders involved at this age.

Organizations hosting festivals at the U9 age group which are interested on collaborating on this initiative are invited to contact Lyndon Hooper and confirm their interest by June 7, 2019.

For more information or further questions, please contact Lyndon Hooper. 

Completing the Game Leader training is very simple. The entire online process of watching the video, completing the quiz, printing your Game Leader Certificate and printing/saving your Game Leader booklet should take no longer than 35 minutes.

A step by step process to guide you to a successful login and completing the course is available in the PDF below.

The first step of the process is to log on to E2E coach centre at: http://www.coachcentre.ca/Default.aspx

The Game Leader program will become mandatory as of 2016 and replace the referee at all U6-U8 games.