The OPDL Spotlight Series, presented by Toronto FC, highlights stories, teams and initiatives from around the league. 

This week features comments from Nico Girard, an OPDL Coach with Toronto High Park FC, on their first year in OPDL. 

This is THPFC's first year within OPDL. Right now there are currently five staff working between the two teams. This has been a great experience for THPFC as it gives the younger players an exciting step forward into their soccer development.

At first it took some time to adjust to the new season and started off with a few rough patches.

Since then we have seen a steady improvement as the season has progressed.

Players, parents and coaches have been impressed with the progress we have made so far and I hope that our success will continue further into the season.

I think that the most exciting part for the players will be the exposure to the competition found in the OPDL environment.

This will be a learning curve for the players as they will compete against opponents of greater skill and higher compete levels.

This will be a great challenge but will also be very rewarding for all the players. 

Toronto High Park FC hopes to bring opportunity to the West End of Toronto with a high performance program.

By using possession based soccer we hope to make an impact in the league and believe our technical staff have the ability to make this possible. 

I think that the involvement in the OPDL and through the practice sessions our coaches will gain valuable knowledge. We hope that this knowledge will further benefit our staff and produce great results and increase the skill level of our club players. 

After previously working with Toronto FC and North Toronto SC, Nico Girard is most excited to work with a group of dedicated players towards their season goal.