Ontario Soccer – Three keynote speakers, and as many as seven more sessions speakers to still be announced

Nov. 13, 2017

Vaughan, ON –  Ontario Soccer has announced the first nine session speakers to be added to the 2018 Ontario Soccer Summit roster. 

The speakers, which hail from around the soccer and sports science world with their technical knowledge, will bring their expertise to Seneca College – Newnham Campus from March 2-4, 2018. 

Early bird tickets, which have been capped at 100 total this year, went on sale last week and are selling quickly. 

Visit OntarioSoccer.net/SummitTickets to register and purchase your tickets

Today’s announcement, which includes speakers from Coaching, Player Development, Match Official Development and Administrative streams will assist Ontario Soccer with the goal of making this event the most attended conference to date. So, be sure to act fast. 

The Administration and Operations speakers who will be joining the Ontario Soccer Summit 2018 are: Dr. Nick Bontis (Professor at McMaster University and Vice President of Canada Soccer), Jason deVos (Director of Development, Canada Soccer, David Nutt (Manager of Development Operations, Canada Soccer) and Leonard Golberg (Ontario Soccer Director of Finance and Administration).

“Last year, Jason deVos joined us as one of our Keynote speakers and was the most attended and watched presentations to date. This year, he returns with Dave Nutt, who works closely with Jason on key soccer development programs,” said Johnny Misley, Ontario Soccer Executive Director. “Also joining them will be Dr. Nick Bontis, a passionate Board of Director of Canada Soccer and very successful leader at the MacMaster University School of Business. The three combined will make for some very informative and audience engaging opportunities”

The first technical leaders to be announced, which will be joining the Ontario Soccer Summit 2018 are: Sebastian Dremmler (Bayern Munich Youth Teams Operations Manager), Mark O’Sullivan (a leading player development educator), Reed Maltbie (Youth Coaching Expert and Chief Content Officer at Changing the Game Project) and Dr. Lawrence Spriet (Professor at University of Guelph, and sports scientist focusing on refueling during and after physical exertion.)

“This group of technical speakers, experts all in their own right, offer something for everyone to learn from,” said Gary Miller, Technical Director at Ontario Soccer. “The Ontario Soccer Summit 2018 will be our most comprehensive event to date and we’re thrilled to bring it to our membership.”

And the first confirmed Match Official presenter at the Ontario Soccer Summit 2018 is Sonia Denoncourt, a former head of FIFA Referee Development and the first female FIFA accredited referee. 

“Sonia has been a ground-breaking leader in the match officials world and her expertise is something that Ontario officials will be looking forward to,” said Nicky Pearson, Ontario Soccer Manager of Match Officials Development. “Her experience in performing at the top level, assisting in developing the best officials in the world, as well as having a strong grasp of the grassroots development, is invaluable to our community.” 

In addition to what is expected to be a roster of up to 16 session speakers, there will be three plenary session keynote speakers at Ontario Soccer Summit 2018. 

The first keynote speaker will be announced the week of Nov. 20 and all-three keynote speakers are very high profile and successful sport leaders from Canada. 

Check the Ontario Soccer Summit news section regularly for updates on speakers, events or how to become an Ontario Soccer Summit partner.  

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).

Media Contact 

Ben Rycroft | Communications Manager | Ontario Soccer | brycroft@ontariosoccer.net | 905-264-9390 x 255