In 2017 the Long Term Officials Development program was launched by Ontario Soccer.

For 3 years we travelled the province and created new programs to help support, develop and engage match officials.

When the pandemic hit, all program activity halted.  Over the past year, since we have been back to a sense of normalcy, we have managed to restart parts of the program – Club Instructor Program, Club Support program, Scouting program and other activities.

As a component of the Ontario Trillium Foundation funding that we received to deliver the program, we were required to provide a final report.  

We are proud to say that other provinces have reached out to us to learn how to deliver their own LTOD programs.  We have been contacted by Sport for Life and Sport Canada to discuss the creation of a nationwide program for all sport officials, and have been described as “one massive and very significant impacting project that will go down in Ontario Soccer history.”

We hope you take the time to review the program achievements in the report below. 

Special thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

An agency of the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is one of Canada’s largest granting foundations. With a budget of over $136 million, OTF awards grants to some 1,000 projects every year to build healthy and vibrant Ontario communities. Ontario Soccer thanks the OTF for their support of Ontario Soccer and the LTOD initiative.

As part of the Long Term Officials Development program, we committed to keeping the Match Officials Community updated on our LTOD activities.

In the document below, you will see a list of activities and their status, as well as some charts that were created after we completed our LTOD surveys. We have steadily been reaching our Activity Goals through the first half of 2017, and are on target to reach or surpass our total goals by the end of the year. This activity update is a snapshot of what is happening in Long Term Officials Development.

The planning, administration, additional meetings, follow-up and analyzing of all surveys and post-presentation questions are in addition to what you see here.

We are looking forward to creating a community of inclusion, development and opportunity.

Ontario Soccer is proud to announce the launch of the Long Term Officials Development (LTOD) program. 

Over the past three years, the Match Officials Development Committee and Staff have surveyed, conducted analysis and discussed programming with thousands of registered match officials, Districts Referee Coordinators, clubs and relevant stakeholders throughout Ontario. From that work the LTOD program has been designed and it will advance match officials development in the same way LTPD revolutionized player and coach development. 

A five-year strategic initiative, the LTOD is now an integral component of the Operational Plan of the Soccer Operations Department. LTOD will provide a standards-based education and development program, through strong leadership, inclusivity and support. 

All aspects of the Match Official Development Program will be strengthened, as Development Support Team members, Match Officials and the game will benefit from a ground breaking development and training program. 

As an important part of the roll-out of LTOD, Ontario Soccer will be hosting Regional LTOD Information Sessions across the province.

In 2018, Ontario Soccer met with 115 Clubs face to face and a few via webinar.

This is the base presentation that was used for these meetings.