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Player Development Program Updates (OPDL and OASL) on COVID-19

By Staff, 03/20/20, 12:45PM EDT

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The start of the OPDL and OASL seasons have been postponed

Play. Inspire. Unite. 

Ontario Soccer, in consultation with our national governing body, input from relevant government agencies and medical experts, continues to monitor the most recent developments with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the emerging public health crisis.

In light of recent developments with COVID-19, Ontario Soccer has made the decision, in consultation with the OPDL License Holders, to postpone the start of the OPDL season, which was scheduled to start April 24. Further to the decision related to the OPDL, Ontario Soccer has also made the decision, in consultation with OASL league management, to postpone the start of the OASL SAAC Heritage Division which was scheduled to start April 24 as well.

Ontario Soccer will continue to follow the guidelines set forth by the public health authorities, government agencies and soccer governing bodies. As the situation continues to evolve and new information is made available, Ontario Soccer will issue updates as warranted.

Additionally, this decision aims to ease the pressure on service providers involved with the operation of the competition and the organizations on their preparation for the outdoor season.

Given the constraints presented by such a decision, Ontario Soccer has assembled an OPDL Task Force with the participation of Technical and Administrative leads from the participating organizations (License Holders). The OPDL Task Force will examine solutions that would allow the program to operate in line with the core objectives and values of the OPDL.

The OPDL is an innovative, youth high performance program of Ontario Soccer designed and aligned with the core principles of Long Term Play Development (LTPD) across soccer in Ontario and Canada. Ontario Soccer is committed to continue to deliver, via OPDL License Holders, a standards-based developmental environment that prioritizes meaningful competition to participants, standardized training and coaching and a centralized structure for tracking and identification of talented players.

Ontario Soccer will continue to work with the OASL League Management and OASL Academies to ensure the safety of the athletes and interests of the academies are taken into consideration as the situation progresses.

For further questions, please contact Gabriel Assis, Senior Manager of Player Development.