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How does Ontario Soccer scout and track athlete development?

By Staff, 02/25/20, 10:30AM EST

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Ahead of this weekend’s Provincial Projects, Ontario Soccer is sharing how it tracks, evaluates and brings together talent to help athletes elevate to the next level

Play. Inspire. Unite. 

The second weekend of Provincial Projects 2020 will take place this weekend at the Ontario Soccer Centre.

As the Ontario Soccer High Performance program continues to work towards selecting the Ontario Provincial team, it’s important to remember that the process is a journey and not a destination.

“Scouting takes place throughout the year by our staff at Ontario Soccer and our team of 16 part-time scouts across the province,” Bryan Rosenfeld, Ontario Soccer Senior Manager of High Performance. “That is followed by Talent on Location Days, where players, which are recommended by their coaches, have an opportunity to showcase their talents.”

Over 900 players were screened through the OPDL and Talent on Location in 2019 and it’s one of the best opportunities for athletes, who may not have been identified previously, to be seen and scouted.

From Talent on Location Days, 600 players are selected to Provincial Screening Competitions where they train with and compete against the best players in their age divisions over the next several months.

Nearly 300 players then move on to Provincial Projects, a once monthly training environment, which ultimately leads to the selection of the Ontario Soccer Provincial team in April.

“This weekend at the Ontario Soccer Centre is another opportunity for Ontario Soccer to refine its selection for the Provincial team but also for these players to experience a training environment that brings the best players in the province together to test their abilities against one another, ” said Matt Ferreira, Ontario Soccer Performance Analyst and High Performance Regional Manager.

The final two weekends of Provincial Projects take place March 21-22 and April 18-19.

A squad of 22 players from both genders will be selected by the end of March to represent the Provincial Teams at U-14, U-15 and U-16 levels. 

The Ontario Soccer Provincial Team then competes in a weekend long competition against their counterparts from Quebec on Apr. 24-26 at the Ontario Soccer Centre but more over it’s an opportunity for a player to put themselves on the radar of Canada Soccer scouts, university scouts and those in the professional ranks.