Dear Members, Players, Parents, Coaches and Team Officials,
I first want to wish you the best and hope that during these unusual circumstances you are staying safe and taking every opportunity to be with your immediate family. I know board games, Netflix and yard work have become very popular around our home. There is some fun and positive news at the bottom of this message.
This email is an update following our last Club wide message on March 19
th
and includes an important update from Ontario Soccer that will see soccer suspended for all of April. I want to thank Coach and Board Member Barry Donnelly for some of the content here that I have borrowed from him.
The PFC Executive Board have increased from monthly meetings to weekly conference calls in an effort to assess the ongoing situation and I am in contact with them on an almost daily basis as we absorb and understand the messages from Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels of government.
Coach Development – and helping your player develop.
On Monday 23
rd
the PFC Competitive coaches continued with their bi-weekly coaches meeting via Zoom conference. I listened in to this meeting and was really proud of the discussion being had and the sense of leadership we’re able to provide to our coaches. Many of them have connected with you already to provide guidance on training practices and fitness routines during this time away from the team. Our coaches are committed as ever in these trying times so look out for more content and support from them.
League Operations
From a
Recreational
perspective we are guided by Ontario Soccer on when we are able to begin programming again. This may not be as simple as Ontario Soccer allowing us to play again because there may still be government restrictions in place. Regardless, we are building contingency plans for shortened seasons that may see us return to play in May, June or July. One way or another we will try our best to offer something for Outdoor 2020.
From a
Competitive
and
High-Performance
perspective, the staff and coaches are discussing a number of scenarios moving forward in regards to possible start up dates. The hope is for early May as this would not affect league play in anyway. It would give us a couple of weeks of training before games begin and will enable us to make up days for time lost in March and April.
Again, we are at the mercy of league operators (DRSL, CSL, OPDL, L1O) as to when they want to start the season and whether they plan to extend it beyond the typical season duration. All leagues are in regular contact with the Clubs competing including OPDL and L1O who have already held conference calls with us.
Club Operations
Probably the last thing on your mind right now but, as a business that offers thousands of playing opportunities, employment opportunities for full-time, part-time and seasonal staff as well as many other sport and community users, this situation is scary. We can assure you that the Board of Directors, staff and coaches are taking all issues very seriously and will update you anytime there is news worth sharing. At this time Ontario Soccer have confirmed the continued suspension of all soccer related activities until the end of April and will be making decisions on a month by month basis. This compliments the City of Pickering decision to issue NO permits for outdoor fields during April. The official announcement can be found here:
And their FAQ documents is regularly updated as questions come in from the public:
The Club will continue to make decisions that support the long-term viability of the Club and set us up for another 35 years of great PFC history!
Being social
It seems like a contradiction but in these trying times of low socialization we’re empowering social media tools better than ever before. Sure, there will always be time for a
cute video
.
The Club and our coaches are using Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in positive ways to engage players and parents in keeping everyone active. I’m proud to say that our Club initiatives that started 2 weeks ago have caught the attention of other Clubs in Ontario and our governing bodies. Our Grassroots Director Holly was interviewed by Global News today about this initiative and the positive impact it’s having so look out for a story during tomorrows news. Please use the
#PFCChallenge
hashtag in all of your postings. This is open to Recreational AND Competitive players, and we're always on the look out for some coach and parent participation too!
Our weekly calendar will help players prepare for the week ahead:
