Ontario Soccer’s Ontario Player Development League (OPDL), wrapped up its eighth season this weekend with the 2022 OPDL Gary Miller Charity Shield Finals hosted at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan, Ontario.
Miller, the former Ontario Soccer Director of Soccer Operations, passed away in May of 2020 and his influence on soccer in Ontario was nowhere more impactful than his work in developing the standards for the OPDL.
Gord Miller, Gary’s brother who was in attendance to help honour Gary’s memory, said:
On behalf of Gary's family, it was an honour to attend the OPDL Gary Miller Charity Shield Finals this past weekend at the Ontario Soccer Centre. Ontario Soccer did a first class job in staging the event and in honouring Gary’s contributions to the game by naming this important event after him. It was clearly evident, from the moment that I stepped in the building, that Ontario Soccer cared a lot about the games, as they were staged with a great deal of class, care and professionalism. And, it was indeed a pleasure to see that the standard of the matches were enjoyable and of a high quality. The players, coaches and attending fans got a sense of who Gary was and how he helped to build and develop the product of what they were ultimately witnessing in front of their own eyes.
We would like to thank Ontario Soccer for honouring Gary's legacy and in their ongoing efforts to continue to build the game.
We would like to thank Ontario Soccer for honouring Gary's legacy and in their ongoing efforts to continue to build the game.
While the OPDL Gary Miller Charity Shield is an integral opportunity to showcase the immense talent found within the OPDL before fellow OPDL members, scouts and families, the Charity Shield also raises money for Ontario charities.
Every dollar accumulated through the $5 admission rate, or the 50/50 draw, is donated to Ontario charities, as chosen by the winning teams in each match. A special thank you to our partners for their generous support in supplying our best ever silent auction and door prize items!
In addition to the great competition over the weekend, approximately $12,000 was raised for charity.
The winning teams selected ALS Canada (Vaughan SC U14 Boys), Sick Kids Foundation (Ottawa South United U14 Girls), ALS Canada (Vaughan SC U15 Boys), Canadian Cancer Society (Markham SC U15 Girls), Sick Kids Foundation (North Mississauga SC U17 Boys) and Kids Help Phone (Markham SC U17 Girls), to donate their portion of the proceeds towards.
This past weekend’s Gary Miller Charity Shield event was a perfect example of the growth in talent in the OPDL since 2014,” said Bryan Rosenfeld, Interim Director, Soccer Operations & Provincial Excel. “Gary would have definitely been proud to see how this high-performance program has excelled over the years in player, coach and match official development.
Launched in 2014 with the 2001 age group, the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL) is Ontario’s first and Canada’s foremost standards-based, youth high performance league that combines top level competition with comprehensive high performance training standards for players, coaches and match officials.
This innovative and exciting youth high performance program is an important standard-bearer of the adoption of Long Term Player Development (LTPD) principles across soccer at-large in Ontario and Canada.
OPDL encompasses the U13 to U17 age categories, for both males and females, which are delivered by 30 committed License Holder Clubs from Windsor in the West all the way to Ottawa in the East.
Congratulations to all 30 license holder Clubs for a remarkable first full season since 2019, recovering from the global pandemic,” said Johnny Misley, Ontario Soccer CEO. “Thank you to our partners at Gatorade, Toronto FC and the Canadian Premier League for their support throughout the season. Mr. Miller would have been exceptionally proud of the talent on display this past weekend.