Year in Review - Vancouver United Football Club

VANCOUVER UNITED FC YEAR-IN-REVIEW 2015/2016 SEASON

STAFF MEMBERS:

Gregor Young - Technical Director

Keith Ryan - Club Manager

Nicola Faloon - Member Services and Communications Coordinator

Cara Speakman - Academy and Technical Programs Coordinator

Sebastian Crema - Events, Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator

Nick Perugini - Assistant Technical Director

Gemma Fox - Programs Assistant

Laura Coma Fernandez - Coaching Conference and Registration Assistant

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:Peter Delaney - President

Eric Vanderluit - Treasurer

Ewen Cameron - Secretary/Technical Committee Chair

Liz O’Malley - Vice President Boys

Cynthia Friesen - Vice President Girls

Jocelyn Lewis - Vice President House

Chantal Cotton - Vice President House

Craig Chiasson - Vice President U9-U13 Technical

Mark Cylwa - Vice President U11/U12

Gord Jaggs - Director

Ian McCarthy - Director

Nancy Cromarty - Director

Mark Monro - Director

Mike Mosher - Director

Paul Chapman - Director

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT

On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Vancouver United Football Club’s Fifth Annual General Meeting completing the 2015-16 season.

It has been another busy year for us all on and off the field, and this report will summarize many of the programs and events over the past twelve months for the various ages and levels of play.

One of the important functions of the board is to remain forward thinking to ensure the club’s long-term sustainability and optimal growth. The club is constantly working towards short and long-term objectives, including: program develop-ment, registration management, member services, communications, partnerships, fields, and equipment.

In order to prioritize on these and other areas, we have initiated a strategic planning process that aspires to create the best possible soccer experience. The plan is based on the club mantra – GAME. CLUB. COMMUNITY. – with all initiatives being aligned with one of these areas of focus. The club continues to focus on a positive soccer experience for all of our players, celebrating teamwork, sports-manship and friendly competition.

Every year at our awards night we acknowledge the achievements of individual players, teams, team officials, referees, and other volunteers. This year’s event was attended by over 180 members and provided our club with the opportunity to recognize this season’s successes. In closing, I would like to acknowledge the dedication our staff and directors; the commitment

of our teams; the strong character of our referees; the hard work of volunteers; and the support of all the family members. It is this combined effort that helps ensure the club provides a positive experi-ence for all our stakeholders.

President - Peter Delaney

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Boys

U5 160 U12 154

U6 338 U13 178

U7 417 U14 150

U8 418 U15 116

U9 206 U16 133

U10 235 U17 129

U11 217 U18 91

Total 2942

CLUB OVERVIEW

VANCOUVER UNITED GIRLS

VANCOUVER UNITED BOYS

VANCOUVER UNITED - TOTAL REGISTRATIONS

Totals

U5 209 U12 275

U6 454 U13 293

U7 584 U14 252

U8 676 U15 183

U9 308 U16 184

U10 378 U17 215

U11 341 U18 160

Total 4512

Girls

U5 49 U12 121

U6 116 U13 115

U7 167 U14 102

U8 258 U15 67

U9 102 U16 51

U10 143 U17 86

U11 124 U18 69

Total 1570

U5 160

U6 338

U7 417

U8 418

U9 206

U10 235

U11 217

U12 154

U13 178

U14 150

U15 116

U16 133

U17 129

U18 91

Vancouver United FC -‐ Boys

U5 209

U6 454

U7 584

U8 676

U9 308

U10 378

U11 341

U12 275

U13 293

U14 252

U15 183

U16 184

U17 215

U18 160

Vancouver United FC -‐ Totals

U5 49 U6

116

U7 167

U8 258

U9 102 U10

143

U11 124

U12 121

U13 115

U14 102

U15 67

U16 51

U17 86

U18 69

Vancouver United FC -‐ Girls 4

COMMENTS FROM CLUB TECHNICAL DIRECTOR GREGOR YOUNG:

Overall, Vancouver United’s 2015/16 season was an incredible one! Response to club programming has been superb. For most programs, the demand has been very positive, as well as field requests, meaning we are getting more and more kids out on the field enjoying the beautiful game. Being able to offer additional programming to all levels of players as they enter divisional soccer at U11 ensured all players got off to a good start upon leaving the VanU House soccer program

As far as stellar season performances are concerned, a very high number of teams won league titles on both the boys’ and girls‘ sides. Cup success saw U15 Gold Boys Santos reach the final of Coastal A Cup (normally reserved for Metro teams) and U14 Boys Golazos reach the semi finals of Coastal A Cup. U18 Girls Wolfpack reached the finals of Coastal B Cup, thus qualifying them for the Provincial B Cup in July. The Golazos have also been invited to join the Provincial A Cup.

As far as our introductory programming is concerned, a record number of young players are taking part in the spring Active Start Programming.

This year, Vancouver United was also the first club in BC to develop a pilot project with BC Soccer Association (BCSA) to ensure all our coaches are certified at appropriate levels as mandated for the coming season.

Finally, this month, Vancouver United was the organizing club for the 2nd Annual Pacific Soccer Coaching Conference; chaired by Mark Monro from VanU Board. The conference itself saw over 200 coaches from across the province, and Washington state, participating in both on-field practical sessions and in-class lectures.

In conclusion, we are looking forward to increased growth at all levels for the 2016/2017 season, as well as certifying all our participating coaches to provide our players with the greatest opportunity to succeed in soccer.

U5 49 U6

116

U7 167

U8 258

U9 102 U10

143

U11 124

U12 121

U13 115

U14 102

U15 67

U16 51

U17 86

U18 69

Vancouver United FC -‐ Girls 5

ACTIVE START U5-U8

Active Start is the program for our U5-U8 players, this is the first stage of our players’ soccer careers. As far as programming is concerned, U5 par-ticipants have one Saturday session a week, with parent participation. U6-U8 players have one mid-week and one Saturday session each week. Though our Fall program is typically the largest with almost 900 players, we set a record this year for players in the Spring with 580 participants. There are 16 sessions per semester for U6-U8 and eight sessions per semester for U5.

Weekend sessions are led jointly by pro-coaches and volunteer coaches, and mid-week sessions are led by the volunteer coaches, applying the week-end lesson plan. This model, where the pro-coaches mentor the volunteer coaches and receive feed-back from the volunteer coaches on a continual basis. is highly successful.

This year, in conjunction with BCSA, we worked on a Coach Education Pilot project using our program. We managed to educate over 100 parent coaches within an 8-week period, providing them with their Active Start and Fundamentals coaching certificates.

FALL 2015

U5 Coed Total: 83 players in 4 groups

U6-U8 Boys Total: 511 players in 43 groups

U6-U8 Girls Total: 267 players in 23 groups

FALL TOTAL PLAYERS: 861

TOTAL TEAM OFFICIALS (Coaches): 158

WINTER 2016



U6-U8 Girls Total: 116 players in 11 groups

WINTER TOTAL PLAYERS: 502

TOTAL TEAM OFFICIALS (Coaches): 105

SPRING 2016



U6-U8 Girls Total: 147 payers in 13 groups

SPRING TOTAL PLAYERS: 581

TOTAL TEAM OFFICIALS (Managers & Coaches): 125

We would like to thank the hard working adminis-tration staff in organizing Active Start, and also the pro-coaches for their dedication to the program. We are reserving the biggest thank you to our large crew of volunteer coaches who are there week in and week out, rain or shine.

Chantal Cotton – Active Start Vice PresidentJocelyn Lewis – Active Start Vice President

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HOUSE LEAGUE U9/U10

To begin, we would like to thank BMO for their generous sponsorship of our U9/U10 league. BMO supplied a new jersey and ball for each player – 686 players on 46 teams! Each team was able to sport their own individual team colour. Thank you also to Mark Cwyla for his hard work on this sponsorship initiative.

As always, we would like to thank our age group coordinators for all of their hard work in form-ing teams, arranging game schedules, facilitating ongoing communication to coaches and managers, and ensuring that every child interested in playing had a team on which to play. We would also like to thank our many volunteer parents who brought snacks, set up and took down nets, gathered cones, and remembered rain jackets. Of course without the hard working coaches and team managers, none of this would be possible. Thank you to all.Our season kicked off with opening Jamborees at Queen Elizabeth Park and Ken Woods turf. Thank you to the VanU staff team for their hard work on the Jamborees.

U9 Girls moved their games from Saturdays to Sundays; we were fortunate enough to be able to

REGISTRATION BREAKDOWN

U9 Boys: 206 players on 13 teams

U10 Boys: 235 players on 14 teams

BOYS TOTAL: 441 players on 27 teams

U10 Girls: 143 players on 13 teams

GIRLS TOTAL: 245 players on 19 teams

BOYS & GIRLS COMBINED: 686 players on 46 teams

TEAM OFFICIALS TOTAL (Managers & Coaches) – 208

have their games on Ken Woods turf for the whole season. From September to December, U10 girls and U9 and U10 boys enjoyed playing games on several local grass fields, moving to UBC turf in January. As far as a notable season for our House Division, the U10 Krushers (Boys) and U10 Avengers (Girls) competed in the U11 Silver league and did very well in terms of developing and gaining experi-ence for the upcoming season, where they will compete at the U11 Gold level.Finally, we had a record number of parent coaches applying to coach at the U11/U12 level at the conclusion of their house league experience.

Chantal Cotton – Vice President HouseJocelyn Lewis – Vice President House

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DIVISIONAL AND HOUSE U11/U12

The U11-12 age group is a key transition period for our players. At this age group, players move from the smaller pitches of house soccer at 6 a-side, to the 8 a-side pitches twice as large as those used in previous years. The 8 a-side format is a bridge to help prepare the young players for divisional soccer, which is played on full size pitches at 11 a-side.

A unique feature for these age groups this year was a “retreat line” rule which was introduced with unanimous support by our club. The intent of this rule is to encourage play to develop from the backfield. By all accounts, the adoption of this rule was quick and the implementation was smooth. It should be noted that overall results are not tracked at this age group as prescribed within the Long Term Athlete Development model published by the Canadian Soccer Association, adopted by BC Soccer and embraced by Vancouver United FC. That is not to say we cannot specifically celebrate an outstand-ing year of development in a manner beyond wins and losses.

The U11/12 age group for parent, player and club has many different streams, making it a dynamic and challenging environment. It is the first year players are tiered into three levels of play. At U12, tiering continues into six levels of play. Tiering in any sport can be a stressful time for parents and player alike. In an effort to minimize the stress, the club’s staff and volunteers go to great lengths to inform and educate members as to what they can expect. My congratulations to staff and members alike, as the number of challenges we faced in the 2015/2016 season was dramatically lower. This was accomplished by a comprehensive evaluation plan, policies well communicated, and a process intended to be inclusive and transparent.

Another cross current we find in this age group is a spike in parent and coach discipline issues. Both are facing new situations (often for the first time) throughout the age groups. As the sphere of play widens to other parts of the city and other clubs, competition increases as players (respective of their age and levels) are exploring the boundaries of their newly acquired abilities. VanU is pleased to state that while the 2015/2016 season was not problem free, the number of instances being dealt with was lower than ever before.

From a programming perspective it was a great year. We continued with the club’s long standing track record for incremental improvement year over year. One highlight was the creation of the Silver Plus program at U11 which had 56 players (male and female) structurally training three times per week (vs. once) coupled with spring play. The player improvement was marked with one team moving to U11 Gold led by two fabulous coaches. Further, it led to an additional Gold 2 team being added for those players born in 2005 and going in to U12 for the upcoming 2016/2017 season.

All in all, it was an extremely successful season at U11 and U12. Our staff did an admirable job of managing closures and delays on-field, and our team officials (members) were patient in their appreciation of the structural challenges we faced.

It should be noted that a large part of this year’s success was due to an extremely strong group of Age Group Coordinators. Nicole Collard (U11B), Mike Moretto (U11G), Nancy Cromarty (U12 B) and Maria Proust (U12G) put in a significant effort from spring through to season end. Our sincere thanks to them.

Mark Cylwa - Vice President U11/U12

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SECOND ANNUAL PACIFIC SOCCER COACHING CONFERENCE

This year’s Pacific Soccer Coaching Conference was held at Simon Fraser University, where a combina-tion of on-field, classroom, and keynote presentations took place over a three-day period.This year we welcomed presenters from Arsenal FC, Southampton FC, Leicester FC, the English and Dutch FA, FC Barcelona Escola, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Twist Conditioning, the National Soccer Coaches Association America (NSCAA), and Play Better. With such an incredible line-up of presenters, the conference provided coaches from around the province with top-class instruction from some of the world’s best in coaching.

The conference itself saw over 220 participants over the course of the weekend. New this year, we offered participants the opportunity to complete their Small-Sided Games Diploma during the conference. Additionally, to ensure all attendees were able to get the most out the weekend, session plans will soon be uploaded to the conference website.

Some sessions were also video taped, and will be made available in the coming weeks.

We would also like to mention the sponsor’s for this year’s conference. To begin, our title sponsor was SoccerX. Additionally, we would like to acknowledge the contributions of the NSCAA, Twist Conditioning, Bonzi, Farpost, BC Soccer Web, AM Sports Tours, and GameVision.

We would also like to extend our appreciations to

Mark Monro, the Committee Chair, for the event, as well as the hardworking staff of Vancouver United FC for their incredible efforts prior to and during the conference itself.

THIS YEAR’S NOTABLE PRESENTERS INCLUDED:

Gareth Jennings – Academy Manager and Head of Coaching, Leicester City FCMartin Hunter – Technical Director, Southampton FCJan van Loon – U16 Head Coach, Arsenal AcademyPeter van Dort – U15 Head Coach, Dutch FABen Bartlett – Senior Youth Coach Educator, the FANick Levett – Talent Identification Manager, the FAIsaac Oriol Guerrero Hernandez – Football School FC Barcelona, Head CoordinatorWillie Cromack – Founder of Play BetterCraig Dalrymple – Technical Director, Whitecaps FC Residency ProgramPeter Twist – President and CEO, Twist Conditioning

Please feel free to take at look at the conference’s website for additional information:www.pacificsoccercoaching.com

“COACHING IDEAS WORTH SPREADING”

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DIVISIONAL GIRLS UNDER BCCGSL, U12 DIV 1 / U13-U18

It was another great season on the divisional girls’ side, we had 31 VanU girls teams playing in the BCCGSL this past season. A highlight of the season was seeing our relationship with the UBC soccer program grow with a mentorship event for Division 3 players. We look forward to seeing that partnership grow in the seasons ahead. We also saw some teams who had challenging regular seasons develop enough to excel in their league champion-ship pool, which led to a growth in confidence and appreciation of team sport.

We would personally like to thank the age group coordinators past, present and future for their willingness to tackle issues of nuanced complexity and their attention to detail, as the season presented itself with its fair share of hurdles. These volunteers are advocates for their teams and we are incredibly grateful.

We also had excellent representation in League

Championship Finals and both Coastal A & B Cup play as you can see from the list below:

VanU League Championship Final results for BCCGSL were as follows:U13: The Electricity (runner up), The Wildcats (runner up)U14: The Panthers (first place), The Avengers (runner up), The Thunder (runner up)U15: The Theevz (runner up)U16: The Thunder (first place)U17: The Wolfpack (first place), The Dynamite (first place), The Rockets (runner up)

VanU’s U13 Electricity also represented our club in the 2016 Coastal A Cup.

VanU’s teams which advanced in the 2016 Coastal B Cup : We had representation in every age group U14 – U18, with the U16 Thunder making it to the semi-finals and the U17 Wolfpack all the way through to the Provincials where they will represent us in Kelowna this July. Go, Wolfpack!

Cynthia Friesen - Vice President Divisional Girls

REGISTRATION BREAKDOWN:

U12 Girls: Warriors with 12 players in Div 1A and Hurricanes with 13 players in Div 1B.U13 Girls: 115 players on 7 teamsU14 Girls: 102 players on 6 teamsU15 Girls: 67 players on 4 teamsU16 Girls: 51 players on 3 teamsU17 Girls: 86 players on 5 teamsU18 Girls: 69 players on 4 teams

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DIVISIONAL U13-18 BOYS

The 2015-16 soccer season was also incredibly suc-cessful on the divisional boys’ side for VanU. Multi-ple teams had success both in league and cup play. We had several teams advance in Provincial Cup play in both A and B Cup. In the District Cup play finals at Burnaby Lake on Feb. 28, VanU fielded 21 of the 32 teams participating in the tournament. Of those 21 teams, 14 teams were winners.

Those teams included:

PIONEER CUP WINNERS

U14 G1 GolazosU14 G2 FalconsU15 G1 SantosU16 G2 Celtics: Runner upU17 G Predators COMMONWEALTH CUP WINNERS

U15 S2 VipersU18 S98 Whitecaps: Runner up

BURRARD CUP WINNERS

U13 B2 Raptors: Runner upU14 B2 StallionsU15 B1 CobrasU16 B1 OlympiansU16 B2 Devils: Runner upU17 B2 ScrapsU18B 98 Wolves League play was also a success with many division winners, those winners included:

U13 G1 RangersU14 G1 GolazosU14 S1 ForceU15 B2 KarmaU16 B2 ForceU17 B2 ScrapsU17 G GreycapsU18 B 98 Wolves

Several of our VanU teams advanced in Provincial Cup play. Unfortunately, the U17 Predators lost a heartbreaker to Surrey in the cup semi-final and the U15 Santos lost a close one in the semi-final match. However, both teams fought a strong fight and represented our club incredibly well.

Other teams who competed in cup play finals are as follows:

U14 Golazos: went to semi final of Coastal A Cup; invited to Provincial CupU15 Santos: went to final of Coastal A CupU16 Vikings: quarter finals of Coastal B CupU17 Predators: semi finals of Coastal B CupU17 Greycaps: quarter finals of Coastal B Cup

Liz O’Malley - Vice President Divisional Boys

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TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

ACADEMY

Academy programming continued to expand as we added five Silver Plus teams on Monday nights, and a very well received Goalkeeper Academy on Wednesdays. During the Spring programming in particular, VanU also ran at record levels with a full Spring Academy and Goalkeeper Academy. As well, Spring Break Camps were both full and had close to 30 players on the wait list. As we shift into the summer months, registrations are closing in on 300 players over three weeks of camps. This will also likely be the most players we’ve had in our camps to date.

EMBEDDED COACHING

Embedded Coaching was generally well received, and the decision to make it optional for U16 to U18 teams will increase the amount of coaching align-ment for the coming season. Running short staffed last year was tough at times, but with new staff already in place for 2016/2017 both the Academy and Embedded Coaching pro-grams will run smoothly from a logistical point of

view. Adding a U11 Bronze Plus program in addition to the Embedded Coaching program made it possible for teams to train on Fridays; this was very well received and will run again next season for both U11 and U12.

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REFEREE REPORT

This past season marked the end of the fifth year that the Referee Program has been operating. Some highlights from the season included the addition of our on-call procedures and the use of an online scheduling software. Firstly, we created both an On-Call Referee position and an On-Call Referee Coordinator position. Secondly, we updated our scheduling procedures to include the use of online referee scheduling software called GameOfficials.net.

Although we improved many aspects of the Referee Program, we continue to struggle to fill all AR positions at the older age groups’ games. To combat this issue, we have held one Youth/District Referee certification course this spring to increase the number of qualified referees and will allow all Small-Sided Referees to AR, if they are comfortable doing so.

This past season we had 1 reported issue of ref abuse at U9/U10 and unfortunately we did see an increase at U11/U12. At the U11/U12 ages we had 6 incidents, which is 4 more than last season and this is concerning. Most of these incidents involved visiting clubs but 2 involved our club. I hope that with continued education and awareness this trend can be curbed.This past season I attended multiple pre-season sessions with coaches reminding them that ref abuse is not acceptable.

These sessions were done in conjunction with the Technical Director and his coaching staff. These will continue into next season.VanU’s young refs have received support in a

variety of ways including, pre-season training, on field support and feedback.

• One small-sided referee clinic with 58 participants• Two youth district referee refresher clinics • Five club specific referee refreshers• One referee refresher clinic open to VYSA referees• One Assistant Referee training sessions

It was a pleasure to once again perform my role as Head Referee. I feel that the ref program has contin-ued to expand and improve. One of the refreshers was organized in conjunction with VYSA to support the district.

Head Referee - Kevin O’Malley

Male Female

Small Sided Referees 53 55

Youth/District Referees 41 13

Total 94 66

5341

94

55

13

66

0

20

40

60

80

100

Small Sided Referees Youth/District Referees Total

Vancouver United Referee Demographics 2015/2016

Male Female

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FACILITIES

FACILITIES

The club has continued in its efforts to secure ac-cess to the best possible facilities for our families.Director Gord Jaggs has overseen the fields and facilities portfolio over the past year and we have several key initiatives underway. VanU accesses fields from four main providers:

• Univerity of British Columbia• University Neighnorhood Association (at UBC) • Vancouver Park Board• Vancouver School Board

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (UBC) Our partnership with UBC continues to be a very positive one and we are having ongoing discus-sions about how our partnership can be expanded. This discussions include engagement with the Vancouver Whitecaps who will be reloacting much of thier operations to new National Soccer Develop-ment Centre. Most recently, we partnered with UBC on the construction of new bench shelters at War-ren Fiield and the new Woods Field.

UNIVERSITY NEIGBORHOOD ASSOCIATION (UNA) Our partnership with the University Neigborhood Association has taken another positive step forward this year. Our club no longer needs to re-apply for field permits at the U-Hill field mid-way through the fall/winter season. This means the club has greater certainty regarding our permits and ensures less distruption to our teams and programs. As part of our ongoing commitment to the partnership with UNA, VanU funded the construction of shelters over the benches at the U-hill field.

VANCOUVER PARK BOARD (VPB) We access a variety of fields through our relation-ship with the Vancouver Park Board. The Point Grey field (in Kerrisdale) is being re-surfaced this summer and as a result will provide our teams with access to a much improved playing surface. Importantly, this new surface will use TPE infill rather than black recycled crumb rubber.

The club will continue to engage with the Van-couver Park Board and the Vancouver Field Sports Federation to ensure that the best interests of our members is considered as and when new facilities are being planned by the City of Vancouver.

VANCOUVER SCHOOL BOARD (VSB) We access a variety of fields through our relation-ship with the Vancouver School Board. A new turf field will be constructed as part of the re-devel-opment of Kitsilano High School. The new field is expected to be opened in fall 2017. VanU has kept lines of communication open with the VSB as they consider funding options for lights at the new field.

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THANK YOU FOR A GREAT YEAR!

On behalf of the entire VanU team, we would like to extend our appreciations to all of our hardworking volun-teers and parents who make it possible for all of our players to take part in the beautiful game. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to provide our extensive programming.

Thank you for your commitment, rain or shine! In addition, we would like to thank our board members for their commitment and continued support. We have made some incredible improvements this year, and the 2016/2017 season looks even better!

THANK YOU TO THIS YEAR’S SPONSORS/PARTNERS:

CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS YEAR’S AWARD WINNERS

OUTSTANDING TEAM U17 GreycapsU17 PredatorsU17 WolfpackU16 Thunder OUTSTANDING GOALKEEPER Olivia AustinLuke Hardie OUTFIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR Isobel FishmanMichael Chong

COACH OF THE YEAR Andrew KonnertPaul Chapman COACH OF THE YEAR U11-U12 Robert EissesFred Cutler OUTSTANDING JUNIOR REFEREE Ethan McNamaraNatalie Lam

OUTSTANDING SENIOR REFEREE Zubin Shroff-MehrabadiVivian Law MANAGER OF THE YEAR Ian MacPheePaul FisherTracey McGrogan PRESIDENT’S AWARDMark Cylwa

AWARDS NIGHT PHOTOS: HTTPS://GERRYKRIPPS.SMUGMUG.COM/VANCOUVER-UNITED-FC-AWARD-NIGH

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Documents

Year in Review - Vancouver United Football Club