Ontario Soccer – Mississauga, ON – It was an exciting weekend for Ontario Soccer as familiar faces were re-elected and new ones joined the fold. 

The Ontario Soccer Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place Sunday at the Holiday Inn Toronto – International Airport and the membership has elected a President, new executives and confirmed 21 district representatives.

Ron Smale, president for four terms, has been re-elected for a fifth term as Ontario Soccer President, defeating Dino Rossi, Commissioner of League1 Ontario. 

“I’d like to thank Dino for his long-time service and commitment to Ontario Soccer. He has been and will continue to be a great servant to the game,” said Smale. “As a leading soccer organization in Canada, we need to continue to work to improve our governance structure as well as continue to work to Unify Ontario through our players, coaches, match officials, volunteers and administrators. These groups will be the focus of all our decisions.”

View the full list of Ontario Soccer board of directors on OntarioSoccer.net.

Prior to the AGM, Ontario’s volunteers were in the spotlight as the Centre Circle Awards took place Saturday night.

The Centre Circle Awards are Ontario Soccer’s highest level of recognition and are presented annually to deserving volunteers and organizations nominated on the basis of their outstanding contributions to the development of soccer in Ontario and Canada.

This year, Ontario Soccer unveiled a refreshed awards program that expanded the current awards structure and reflects a more inclusive and accurate representation of those who exemplify the best in Ontario.

Recipients	Category	Nominated by:
Central Girls Soccer League	President’s Award
Brantford Soccer Club	Club Recognition	Hamilton and District SA
Don Clowes	Meritorious Award	Hamilton and District SA
Gene Da Silva	Meritorious Award	Peel Halton SA
Charles Scott-Field	Meritorious Award	South-West Regional SA
Malcolm Spence	Meritorious Award	Hamilton and District SA
Leslie Wong	Meritorious Award	Scarborough SA
Tony Camacho	Match Officials – Mike Bremer Award	South-West Regional SA
Marlene Ford	Match Officials – Carol Anne Chenard Award	South-West Regional SA
Justin Tasev	Match Officials – High Performance Award	Peel Halton SA

 

A Special General Meeting was also called for Saturday to vote on proposed amendments to the Ontario Soccer By-Laws. The motion was not passed. 

About Ontario Soccer

Founded in 1901, Ontario Soccer is the largest provincial sports organization in Canada. Its members include more than 650 Clubs servicing over 24,000 teams with 380,000 registered players, 70,000 coaches and managers, and 10,000 match officials. Ontario Soccer develops and delivers exceptional and sustainable programs and services throughout Ontario with the mission of providing leadership and support for the advancement of soccer in collaboration and cooperation with our membership, partners and other stakeholders. Ontario Soccer also operates League1 Ontario, a provincial professional-amateur men’s and women’s league as well as the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL).

For more information:
Ontario Soccer
brycroft@soccer.on.ca