President's Message

I would like to start by saying thank you to all the parents that have taken the time to contact us either by phone or e-mail to share comments, ask questions, or raise concerns. We added a Comments/Feedback button on the website and encourage it’s use. All of us on the board really appreciate feedback. We strongly believe that the Club represents all of us and it is difficult at times to really understand what all constituents are thinking unless we are told.

As the 2010 season comes to a close, I would suggest to you that the year has been a pretty good one in many ways and a disappointment in others. Your board of directors and the staff of the club have lofty goals and there is certainly a measure of frustration when we don’t achieve everything we would like to.

We handle all questions as quickly as possible and concerns even faster. In the last month or so, we have seen and heard from many about their concerns or with compliments for the club. Some of the concerns I think are worthy of some clarification.

Your Board of Directors – we are all volunteers and we do not receive compensation. Board members are currently elected to office in one of two ways; by election of the membership at the Annual General Meeting (which is held every October) or by nomination by a Board member to fill an empty chair. All terms are two years.

All coaches, assistant coaches and administrators are eligible participants at the Annual General Meeting. We encourage participation at the Annual General Meeting to gather a greater sense of the wants and needs of the membership of the Club. Typically about 40 people are in attendance. In addition to electing Board members, the annual budget for the coming year and the audited financial statements for the year just ended are presented for approval. Governed by the Corporations Act of Ontario, the club does operate under a Constitution which is available on the website. All board meetings have minutes taken and are available on request. Monthly financial statements are prepared as well.

Fields and the costs associated with them – For the Ancaster Community Centre, Meadowlands Park, the Costco field and Smith Park – we pay hourly permits to the city for their use. The city is solely responsible for the maintenance of those fields. If the grass is too long because of weather we are powerless as a club to do anything directly about it. The City of Hamilton maintains a 9-day cut rotation in which they will not cut more than 1/3 of the plant at one time. You can imagine that during seasons of high growth, the fields can get a little shaggy. With some coaxing, we are able to negotiate more frequent cuts on our premier field - CC2.

The lights at CC2 and Costco field were purchased by (and remain property of) the Club. The watering system at CC2 is owned by the club as well. Jerseyville Park, in agreement with the city, offers ASC preferred use. But, we are required to pay for all maintenance of the park. Ancaster High School and Ancaster Senior Public – we have an arrangement in place with the school board that allows us to share maintenance costs of the fields and give us say in how they are maintained. The school board employs a 14-day cut rotation that we must augment once or twice per cycle in order to maintain playable fields. This is why so many of the fields at Ancaster High and Ancaster Senior Public have just the playing surface maintained with a 3-foot border and surrounding green space seems so over-grown. The fact is that we have far fewer city owned fields per capita than any other soccer club in the city. Therefore, our field maintenance budget on an annual basis is significant. As a side note, we were one of the first clubs in the city 5 years ago to stop burning lines on fields as a mechanism to reduce player injury. We paint our fields. The Club, not the city, pays for this. Each field costs $90 to paint every time we do it. Ten to twelve fields on a weekly basis is a lot of money, but we believe the kids’ safety is worth it.

Coaching, player and parent behavior – our club is recognized in Ontario as one of the leaders in this area. We do take behavior very seriously and when there are complaints at any level, they are reviewed and examined.

House league team selection – Only the children of coaches and sponsor’s are ‘protected’ and placed on the team in which their parent coaches or sponsors. This can certainly cause issue with the balance of play. At this point, we don’t have much choice as this incentive is critical to ensure we have enough coaches and team sponsors. All other kids are rated by the prior year coaches and the teams are selected accordingly by computer software. An inappropriate rating or winter development of a child can no doubt alter the competitive balance from one team to another. We do not make it a habit to place friends with other children unless the parents are coaches or sponsors. It is important that children at all ages play with other children at all skill levels. It promotes fair play and community within the Club.

Refereeing – First we do apologize for the referee mix-up, the week of August 23rd. Over the last several years, the Club refereeing has seen a significant improvement. Club administrative staff oversees the referee program at this time. Many of our young referees have continued on to become members of the Hamilton and District referee association. At present we have in excess of 100 referees being paid to referee games at our club. We offer training and education programs to encourage and improve the quality of the refereeing at Ancaster Soccer.

Competitive Coaching Selection – We do have a sub committee of the board (The Competitive Committee) that oversees the competitive program which is headed up by the Director of Competitive (a board position). This committee is responsible for coaching evaluation and selection as well as supporting the teams during the season. Coach selection at times is difficult, especially when two qualified coaches are up for the same position. The spots the teams earn in the league divisions belong to the club, not the coach. One challenge we faced this year related to a team who, based on the prior year’s play, qualified to move up a division in the South Region Soccer League. The selected coach did not want to coach at this higher level. But, by policy, the SRSL will not demote a team by request. The coach in question was upset and left our club. The parents, many of whom are from Ancaster, continue to be upset and wonder why we could not accommodate their team. Unfortunately some things are out of our control, but understanding the rules that we all follow explains much of this concern.

Competitive Player Playing time and Residence Rules – our club does have minimum playing time rule that coaches must follow. The Club strongly feels that a player must play in order to develop. Winning cannot be had at the expense of players not playing. We also have residence rules such that each competitive team must roster a minimum number of Ancaster-based players on their team. We are an Ancaster-based club and feel strongly that we must create opportunities for our kids to be able to play in their community. Some coaches do not like this rule.

In summary, with respect to the competitive program, we limit the number of teams to ensure we do not affect the house league play. It reduces the quality of play to have too many teams playing as competitive in one age-group. This can be difficult for some parents and players to accept, but it is reality. The 2010 season started with 16 rep teams and 12 select teams. We do not anticipate seeing the number of teams grow much in the coming years unless the number of house league kids grows as well. One challenge that all clubs face is that The Hamilton District Soccer Association (of which we are a member) does not restrict coaching movement within the District and therefore a coach is free to move to another club at any time. Recently the Board has heard much about the teams that moved from our club this past year, but we also welcomed new teams this year as well. As each year progresses, from a competitive perspective, our coaching improves and therefore so will the team results.

One final note, Lou Nagy, our Technical Director is heavily involved with this program as well.

Academies – A couple years ago, we identified the importance of our Club running academies in our Club. We have not yet achieved the level of success that we need at this point and we must continue to move forward to address this issue.

Other Club Initiatives – about 6 years ago, Councillor Murray Ferguson proposed the renovation of the Hamill House in order to bring the major sports organizations together under one roof. Although delayed, it does look like this initiative will be in place this fall. The benefit to the Club is enhanced facilities and a slightly reduced office rental cost.

The future of soccer in Hamilton – Hamilton, in terms of our province, enjoys a huge participation rate. The passion for the game is evident in our community. The quality of play and that of coaching is improving. A fact that might be interpreted as a strength in Hamilton is the significant number of soccer clubs (approximately 30 – 35 clubs) hosting an estimated 25,000 players. This differs from other communities (for example – Burlington has one club, Oakville has two, etc.). The popularity of the game in these circumstances presents a challenge for Hamilton soccer because it splinters resources (both private and public) and makes it difficult to affect the changes to the organizational structure the game needs in our area to ensure long term success. As a club, we have proposed changes at the District to help move forward the organizational structure of soccer in greater Hamilton, but the District as a whole has not adopted what we have proposed. Therefore at this point the game and the development of the game is going to be directed, perhaps even controlled, by those few larger clubs with the resources to survive.

The Dome Project - About 5 years ago the Club decided that in order to ensure the long term survival and development of soccer in Ancaster, it had to embark on a strategy to ensure we have the ability to play indoor soccer in our community. At present, at least 500 Ancaster based kids leave our community to play indoor soccer in a number of seasonal leagues or academies. Without a local indoor facility, this number will most certainly grow. This is the main reason for our partnership with Redeemer University College to construct an indoor facility. This facility will allow the Club to offer indoor soccer leagues (child and adult), run winter leagues, tournaments and academies. This will most certainly help develop the skills of all soccer participants.

This project will also provide funds to the club to help pay for the necessary increased costs of running the organization and to meet the needs and challenges that the sport presents to us. There has been recent communication about the need to continue to fundraise for the Dome. Ancaster Soccer, through its partnership with Redeemer basically controls the prime time usage of the Dome and has sole responsibility for the development of leagues and academies for that facility. We need to ensure the long term success of this facility for the greater good of the game in our community. Therefore, there is a need to raise funds from within the community. The benefit to all is the long term financial stability of the Club to help defray upcoming costs associated with future development and infrastructure.

Club management - Shawn Murray chose to leave our club recently. We do wish him well and plan to commence a search to hire a new general manger for the club. This position is a paid position. In addition to the General Manager, there is also a full time Office Manager, a part time Office Assistant and a part time Technical Director - all of which are paid positions. All costs the Club incurs including office rent and other overhead expenses are analyzed, budgeted and presented in budget form at the Annual General Meeting for approval each October. Annual financial statements are prepared and audited by a chartered accounting firm and those statements are presented to the Annual General Meeting for approval as well. As part of the Clubs’ annual strategic planning process, the board reviews operations, feedback, etc and works with the General Manager to prepare a business plan for the coming year. This process will most certainly take place this fall as well.

In conclusion – Your club does have a paid staff of 4 full or part time positions. All other positions associated with the Club are volunteers. We certainly could accomplish more with more volunteers involved. We are always in need of people to help. Next to volunteering, there is constant pressure to ensure we have enough financial resources to meet the ever growing needs of the game and organization – field maintenance, training, coaching development, office needs, etc. At all times, any of us on the board would appreciate your feedback – good or bad. I can assure you, your comments will be discussed. If you become aware of a criticism from another member, encourage them to communicate it to the Club via the website, by clicking on the “Comments & Feedback” link on the left side of the home page at http://www.ancastersoccer.com/

On behalf of the Board of Directors and management of Ancaster Soccer, thank you for your participation in the 2010 season. We look forward to serving you, our membership, again in 2011 and beyond.

Jim Bethune
ASC President
September 1, 2010