From the Technical Director
A little belated, but a Happy New Year to all.
I spent some of the holiday in England, visiting my dad, who has been sick recently.
While there I was able to take in some soccer, not the least of which was watching Spurs beat
Chelsea 2-0 on TV,
Dele Alli scored both goals for Spurs, despite having the ball for less than a minute during the
whole game. His celebrations were longer than his time on the ball during the 90 minutes.
As most already know, Huronia District Soccer Association administrator, Suzette Boeje, has
left that post for new horizons, for which we wish her the best of success.
As HDSA finalizes appointment of a replacement, members of the board, particularly President
Peter Dawson, have been managing the day to day business of running a soccer district.
This is going to be an interesting year for various reasons.
For example, a number of clubs will have teams playing in both the Huronia district and York
Region leagues.
Where possible, everything has been done within the rules to assist club needs, but not
everyone has all they want.
While York Region is closer to some clubs, allowing teams to play carte blanche in that region
rather than our own would have a detrimental effect on our district.
The geography of Huronia is extensive, but the more home based players who take part in
soccer in the district, the better it is to attract and retain players at a time when registration has
been slipping for several seasons.
Like it or not, playing soccer is not as simple as it once was.
At the organized level, it is not a matter of joining a club, arranging games and going out to play.
There is pretty much a rule for everything that takes place in the sport on and off the field.
Recalling my days working for the provincial government, I sometimes think that if there isn’t a
rule, someone will make one up.
I have been reading My Turn, a Life of Total Football, the autobiography of the late Johan
Cruyff, who would be in most people’s best ever team.
He talks about the simplicity of playing on the street as a child, where kids could do whatever
they wanted in terms of the rules.
He writes about how the tactics of the game itself have become incredibly complicated, when he
says it is simple. When a team has the ball make the field large. When a team does not have
the ball, make the field small.
That’s it, he says.
Off the field, he talks about club administrators who know very little about football interfering
with those people who do.
Cruyff, as with most Dutch people, did not suffer such individuals easily and resigned from
several jobs as a result.
All this from a man who single handedly changed the way the game is played, especially with
his work at Ajax and subsequently Barcelona.
Talking of complication, I read a blog this week by a coaching colleague, Omar Jbaihi.
He says engagement with players is a crucial factor.
I could not agree more. All the fancy documents in the world mean nothing if a coach does not
engage with the players, especially youth.
The attention of players must be obtained and retained in order to have any success at helping
them develop as participants on the field and as people off it.
Across Huronia, many clubs teams are now in training, playing indoors, or preparing teams for
the forthcoming season.
Such teams include Athlete Institute Football Club, which will field under 13 and under 14 boys
and girls teams in the Ontario Player Development League in 2017.
FYI: There are still a few spots available for 2003 and 2004 boys and girls.
The OPDL has also had some recent upheavals, with four clubs having their licences revoked,
in some cases subject to an appeal process.
As mentioned, nothing, it seems, is simple anymore.
How complicated is life getting administratively.
Well, while it’s not soccer, a recent piece of red tape that affects my family just cropped up.
My mother-in-law lives in a retirement home, where a new rule has been introduced.
Instead of just signing a book when they are off the premises and signing in when they return - a
fire regulation - they now have to explain where they are going.
Many of the residents have politely said: “None of your business.”
Others have blindly followed the request.
Johan Cruyff would not have stood for such an intrusion.