Pickering FC
Weekly Update
January 29, 2021
Tell your friends, neighbours and co-workers about the great things happening at Pickering FC!
Dear PFC Family,

We sincerely hope you took the chance to connect with friends and family yesterday, and of course every day. The Bell Let’s Talk campaign broke records for its social interaction but we know this a challenge that isn’t going away and something we have to address as a community.

Last week we spoke about the strength of our community club and the wonderful and diverse fabric of our membership. We also mentioned the many ways that we connect across the club. This week it was driven home to me more than ever. A link was shared with me by a PFC Board member through social media that took me to a 20-minute suicide awareness course. The course was powerful, engaging and educational. Within a day we had technical staff buying into it and by yesterday morning all our Head Coaches and some staff had completed the course. 

Take a look for yourself, the 20 minutes is definitely time well spent.
In our weekly staff meetings, we also heard from Hollie (Grassroots), Tammy (All Abilities) and Dave (Match Officials) about how the increased need for virtual training and meetings had added a new experience to their relationship with members. Since the first day that the pandemic impacted soccer in Ontario, Pickering FC made it clear we want and need to maintain connection with our members. The three staffers shared their experience and each felt the virtual training had given them a better chance to connect with players and their families. Instead of people rushing away after practice or at the end of an in-person meeting there was now a chance to hangout.

On a weekly basis we are running:

  • Player- parent interviews continue across Grassroots, Competitive and OPDL teams
  • All Abilities Virtual training continues twice a week welcoming guests from across Canada!
  • Match Officials Committee, Elite training and/or fitness sessions
  • Coach Development sessions specific to each level of play
  • Executive and/or Board meetings.
CURRENT PROGRAM STATUS
Competitive and High-Performance programs continue training on our virtual platform through to the end of the State of Emergency. By then we hope to have a better picture of the coming weeks.  Any missed field sessions will be made up during the break between Indoor and Outdoor (usually April to mid May). We calculated a pro-rated amount per week for every level of play and that will be assessed in late April. At that point we will know exactly how much of our program has not been delivered and this will be refunded to the payee’s credit card.

Recreational programs including Indoor Rec (U3-U18), Women’s Rec are also in a holding pattern until we can safely return to the dome for games.   

All Abilities program continues their virtual training platform led by Coach T and Coach Zain. Anyone wanting to join the FREE virtual training can contact Tammy at allabilities@pickeringfc.ca (more info below)

As we learn more you will be communicated to directly via email (program specific information) or through this Weekly Email and social media (general information).  
PFC Digital Rewards
PFC All Abilities
We would like to invite members of our All Abilities Community to join Virtual Yoga for All Abilities with Robynn at Imagine Wellness and Yoga. This FREE virtual session runs every Wednesday evening from 7:00 - 8:00 pm and is available for our All Abilities athletes, families, volunteers, coaches and staff. For more information or to register, please contact Tammy at allabilities@pickeringfc.ca
Learn to Train Merit Badges
Our All Abilities athletes having been using their time at home to start working on their Learn to Train Merit Badges. We would like to congratulate Elliot who has been awarded the PFC All Abilities Disability Awareness Merit Badge. In order to complete this badge, Elliot was required  to research and create a presentation about the varying types of disabilities, and complete the  Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Online Customer Service Training. This certificate and badge will be an amazing addition to Elliot’s resume as he works towards becoming a coaching member of our All Abilities Team.  

Congratulations Elliot!!!
Match Officials
With the renewed lock down in Durham Region at the end of November the Pickering FC moved to virtual education sessions. The next session is Tuesday, February 16 from 6:30-8:00pm and will focus on Match Official communication with team officials, players and the match official crew. In addition, we will have a fitness presentation to help the group stay limber and fit for the start of a new season and to help avoid early season injuries related to conditioning. Although the sessions are created for our active group of Match Officials, we welcome having coaches, parents, match officials from 2019 and those interested in becoming a Match Official in 2021 to join in. If you are interested please email Dave Lord at scheduler@pickeringfc.ca and in the subject line please write Match Official Education session. 

The goal of the Pickering FC is to help our group of match officials become the best that they can be! This will lead to everyone - players, coaches, spectators and match officials - having positive experiences throughout the season.

Governance and Operations
You will recall the Club had started planning for our first ever virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) on November 18th. Unfortunately, the Club has been overly stretched as a result of the pandemic and preparing the audit in a timely manner has put undue stress on our Club staff and on our auditors.  As a result, the PFC Board approved a postponement of the AGM and the presentation of our audited financials until early 2021. This gives everyone a little more time to consider our positions up for election and to think about how you might want to volunteer. Club Secretary, Roz Lavoie is managing this area and can be contacted at secretary@pickeringfc.ca for more information. Board positions up for election:  

President - 2 year term and nominee must be a current Board member 
Treasurer - 1 year term and should possess accounting knowledge & experience 
Secretary - 2 year term 
Director at Large - Full Field Recreational Soccer - 2 year term 
Director at Large - Boys' Competitive Soccer - 2 year term 
Director at Large - Girls' Competitive Soccer - 1 year term 
Director at Large - Special Projects - 2 year term
Notices
Our website will continue to be the ‘go to’ place for all the information you need on program structure, costs and schedules. Compare us to others and you’ll see that professionalism, transparency and quality are important to us - after all this is YOUR Club!
Pickering Football Club
(905) 831-9803
PickeringFC.ca
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