Vaughan, ON – The Ontario Soccer Summit is Ontario Soccer’s pinnacle annual personal and professional development and networking event with a track record of modern and meaningful content and leading speakers unrivalled in the country. Ontario Soccer is delighted to confirm an extraordinary trio of keynote speakers that will truly change the game for all attending the Ontario Soccer Summit 2023.

John Herdman – Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach

Herdman is the architect of Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team’s meteoric ascent from the periphery of the world’s game to becoming the reigning Kings of Concacaf securing their first World Cup berth in 36 years in the process while beating both their confederation rivals Mexico and the US in the process.

This magnificent feat is even more extraordinary, seeing that Herdman achieved similar breakthrough success with the Canadian Women’s National Team program previously, building it back up from scratch between 2011 and 2018. During his tenure, the Women’s National Team posted 62 wins, 14 draws and 32 losses in 108 international “A” matches, competed in front of a home crowd at the FIFA Women’s World Cup (2015) and won back-to-back Olympic Bronze medals (2012, 2016).

Early on in his reign as Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach, Herdman inspired the audience at the Ontario Soccer Summit 2019 in London with sharing his vision for turning Canada into a bona fide Footballing Nation.

Allison Forsyth – Safe Sport Trailblazer and Principal at ITP Sport

A two-time Olympian and eight-time Canadian Champion in Alpine Skiing, and a top 15 world ranked athlete for nearly a decade, Allison Forsyth is an athlete, advocate and change maker. Motivated by her own harrowing experiences with athlete maltreatment victimization in the Canadian Sport System, Allison has emerged as the foremost authority, champion and leader in Safe Sport across Canada.

Her purpose as a true trailblazer for Safe Sport and founder of ITP Sport is to apply her boundless passion and energy to change a broken system and shift a culture in Canadian Sport, which has proven to be unsafe for athletes and prone to maltreatment of its participants.

With awareness and education as her top priorities, Allison will transform the audience’s perspective with her candid, fierce and unbridled account of her own story and empower a sense of urgency for all to rally around the need to embrace and implement Safe Sport proactively and decisively.

Matt Young – Sport Sector Innovator and Principal at FSQ Sport

As a widely acclaimed Sport System Innovator, Matt Young is a Business Vancouver Top 40 Under 40, and Caldwell Partners Canadian Top 40 Under 40 business award winner.

His unmatched ability to distill complex constructs into bite-sized pieces that can be readily understood has made him a sought-after business consultant and led him to be globally recognized as THE expert in turning Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) from theory into an operating system.

On his journey to creating the best possible sport environment possible for ALL participants and never settling for the status quo, Matt has done transformative work with organizations ranging from grassroots to professional & Olympic levels of sport in eight countries, collaborating with 32 Regional & National Sport Organizations, two Professional Leagues, six Olympic Federations and seven Universities among other clients. 

“After having to modify and postpone the Ontario Soccer Summit the last few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are very excited to secure speakers of such caliber, ensuring we return with the same high quality and standards, delegates have come to expect of this annual event,” said Johnny Misley, Chief Executive Office, Ontario Soccer. “We look forward to reconnecting with the Ontario soccer community and visitors from across the nation and beyond, as we once again gather in person in the Engine Room of Soccer in Canada, where learners become leaders.”

Find out more about the Ontario Soccer Summit. Watch select sessions from Ontario Soccer Summit 2020.

About Ontario Soccer

Founded in 1901, Ontario Soccer is comprised of more than 550 Clubs servicing over 24,000 teams with 380,000 registered players, 70,000 coaches and managers, and 9,500 match officials, as well as countless volunteers, parents and supporters comprising a direct, multi-cultural community of over 1,000,000 Ontarians.

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 the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL) – the province’s premier standards based youth high performance development program and proudly supports Canada Soccer’s National Teams, the Canadian Premier League and Toronto FC.

An overall goal of Ontario Soccer is to assist with the equitable development of soccer as a healthy lifestyle choice, provide a talented pathway for players to excel and encourage inclusive community involvement at all levels.

An overall goal of Ontario Soccer is to assist with the equitable development of soccer as a healthy lifestyle choice, provide a talented pathway for players to excel and encourage inclusive community involvement at all levels.

Media Contact 

Ben Lungo | Manager, Digital Strategy and Communications 
Ontario Soccer | blungo@ontariosoccer.net | 905-264-9390 x 255