Ontario Soccer Association – Ontario’s best players on display at the Ontario Soccer Centre, as money raised for charities 

November 6, 2015

Vaughan, Ontario – The best of the best in Ontario were in action at the OPDL Charity Shield on the weekend. 

As the champions from the east and west U-14 and U-15 boys and girls divisions took on one another, in a one game winner-take-all, the future of soccer in Ontario has never looked brighter.

“The OPDL Charity Shield not only offers a chance for our conference champions to come together to determine a Charity Shield winner, it’s an opportunity to see the good work our member clubs are doing in developing talent in the province,” said Gary Miller, OSA Technical Director. “As we phase in new age divisions every year, we will continue to see the talent level grow and we will see OPDL players graduating into the provincial and national team ranks.”

The OPDL is the province’s standards-based, youth high performance league that combines top level competition with strict high performance training standards. Those standards are ensuring that Ontario develops players for the future by design and the OPDL’s talent was on full display for Paul Stalteri, Canadian U-17 Men’s head coach, who was in attendance. 

“Ultimately, our scope for success is: how many players are we developing for our provincial and nationals teams? How many players are we moving into university scholarships? How many players are we moving into pro environments? These are the goals of the OPDL program and I’m happy to say these are showing early, positive results,” Miller said. 

While also an integral opportunity to showcase the immense talent found within the OPDL before fellow OPDL members, scouts and families, the Charity Shield raises money for Ontario charities.

Every dollar accumulated through the $5 admission rate will be donated to Ontario charities, as chosen by the winning teams in each match. 

On the day, $2,900 was raised and that money will be given evenly to Sick Kids Hospital (Vaughan U-14 and U-15 Boys), Breast Cancer Foundation (Ottawa South United U-14 Girls) and Holland Bloorview Concussion Centre (Markham SC U-15 Girls). 

Game reports, match video, highlights and photos

Ottawa South United edges Vaughan Azzurri to capture U-14 Girls OPDL Charity Shield

Markham SC win U-15 Girls OPDL Charity Shield on penalties over Aurora YSC

Vaughan wins U-15 Boys OPDL Charity Shield in a thriller over Ottawa South United

Vaughan edges West Ottawa to win U-14 Boys OPDL Charity Shield

High-resolution photos of the event are available to media upon request

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Media Contacts

Ben Rycroft | Ontario Soccer Association Communications Manager | 905-254-9390 ext. 255 | Email: brycroft@soccer.on.ca 

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About the Ontario Player Development League

Launched in 2014 with the 2001 age group, the OPDL is the province’s standards-based, youth high performance league that combines top level competition with strict high performance training standards. This exciting new youth high performance program is an important component of the overall movement to adopt the core principles of Long Term Player Development (LTPD) across soccer at large in Ontario and Canada.