Club History

2008/09 – THE YEAR IN REVIEW

• Weather topped the list of issues in 2008 and it seems like the 2008/2009 season never even really started.  We are now coming into a great time of the season with cup play, the Domenic Mobilio Friendship Tournament and our new spring/summer programs starting.  We now have four of five turf fields available for use, with Cunnings becoming operational in early February.  We continue to work with the City of Coquitlam on their snow clearing policies for turf fields. 

• I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dave Jones, Ken and Tanya Roughead, Sara and Alfredo for all their hard work and patience in the last few months.  With the weather situation and the lack of field space, this has been a trying time for all.  They have worked hard to amalgamate and move technical programs, plan for training and game allocations based on need, etc.  We hear your complaints, but we just cannot make everyone happy.  We also had to deal with Cunnings being out and Douglas College, Pinetree and SD 43 using other field allocations, which minimized our complement of time.

• Gyms and indoor facilities were also a challenge this past year due to the cancellation of contracts, other sports, schools closing and seismic upgrading in four of our schools.  This is something that is out of our control and we continue to try and find indoor facilities to accommodate our younger players.

• Unfortunately, we didn’t have any Provincial Champions in 2008, nor did we send any teams to the National Championships.  We did finish with 2 Silver medals, 2 bronze medals and one fourth place finish.  We hope to improve on that in 2009……we did have many other successes in 2008:

• Numerous CMFSC players were selected to the CSA National Training Centre
• Approximately 18 players also represented our club at the Super Y-League National Championships in Florida in November
• The U16 Mountain WFC team coached by our CMFSC coach, Les Krivak and CMFSC assistant coach Rob Mazzarolo, as well as players Paul Clerc and Matthias Kempe won the North American Finals
• Paul Clerc of the U18 Select Dynamo was selected as the male MVP of the entire Y-League finals in Florida
• Richard Causton, goalie for the U18 Dynamo was selected to the Canadian Men’s U17 National team
• Twenty-five club players were selected to various Y-League teams
• Nineteen club players were selected to our BC Provincial teams
• Our Women’s Select City Slickers team won the Provincial B Cup
• Michael North, Kyle Jones and Anthony De Luca played for the Summer Games teams that won Gold and Silver.  The team that won the Gold medal was coached by our club coach, Danny Jones.

• CMFSC continued its relationship with Coquitlam KidSport, with our members contributing almost $3,000 to the KidSport organization through our online registration process.  Coquitlam KidSport just had its most successful year with 204 approved grants, for various sports, being handed out to Tri-City players.  Due to the success of this organization and kind members like ours, Coquitlam KidSport will increase their grant amount to $200.00 this year.  Thank you very much for your continued support for families and kids in need.

• Our second CMFSC raffle completed at the end of November.  The net proceeds of this major club fundraiser were $58,000+.  As always a huge thank you to our raffle coordinators, Sandra Foucher and Bruce Dent, for their work on the raffle.  The raffle included the Initiation Academy and adult teams this year, so thank you to them as well for your contributions.

• Our club raffle is just one of our ways of generating revenue for our club, over and above our annual player registration fees.  I am very proud to state that our Board of Directors, Executive, volunteers and staff generated 28% or almost $210,000 towards club revenue in the 2008 period.  This revenue was generated through our technical programs, raffle, sponsorship and tournaments.  This isn’t possible without some very hard work. 

• Soccer Express and Adidas continue to be our key business partners and provide exclusive Adidas wear to our players and Executive.  Soccer Express also donates thousands of dollars of goods to our club on an annual basis.  Thank you to our sponsors – Metro Ford Motors (Primary Sponsor), Tim Horton’s, Bank of Montreal, Como Creek Brewing and Media North.

• Our website has been enhanced to include the PCSL and Y-League portals.  A big thank you to our webmaster, Ed Foucher, for his continued work.  Please continue to use our website for your online source of club information.

• Carly Williams and Stephanie Russo were our successful candidates for the Domenic Mobilio annual bursaries.  Our club continues to contribute an annual amount to the Domenic Mobilio Bursary through the Coquitlam Foundation.

• Our Mini programs continue to grow and be successful.  Our Initiation Academy has over 500 players and an additional waiting list.  These new players to our club will get uniforms next season, play early mornings on our turf fields and have paid instructors.  They also take part in the annual Friendship Tournament.

• Our annual Domenic Mobilio Friendship and Labour Day Tournaments were successful again this year.  We have since added a Thanksgiving Day Tournament.

• Our free 2nd Annual Soccer Day of Fun was run by one of our Directors, Bruno Colangeli and our staff.  The event was well attended with all players walking away with prizes, drinks, snacks and some great fun.

• Free coach development sessions and goalkeeping clinics were provided.

• High performance academies, player academies and development team programs were again offered through Sara and Alfredo.

• Town Centre Park is almost fully functional and our soccer club is currently now using all fields.  There are some changes to the fencing at Town Centre West and other enhancements that will continue to take place.  A clubhouse facility is still being discussed at this location and meetings are ongoing.  Our club has been instrumental, along with the Coquitlam Field Sports Association in making this happen.  Our soccer club continues to get many compliments on this facility and we are thankful to the City of Coquitlam for their foresight and commitment to this large expenditure.  A facility of this type allows us to increase our use of turf fields, hold more tournaments, provide opportunities for other year-round programs and continue with our success as a club.

Moving forward to 2009

• I am very pleased to report that there will be no registration increases in the 2009/2010 season with the exception of a $10.00 increase to the Initiation Academy players due to the switch from t-shirts to uniforms.  This does not include our technical programs, where you will see a slight increase in all facets.  In these tough economic times, our Board of Directors continues to work hard to ensure that soccer is a sport that all players can afford to be part of.  The budget for the next year is very slim though and will require some prudent financial management to achieve even a break even season.

• Please ensure that any financial hardship cases are brought forward through your Executive.  As noted above, there are also other funding sources (KidSport, etc) available for youth players.

• Plans are underway to change our fiscal year from January 1st – December 31st to April 1st to March 31st.  This period will more closely align to our playing season.  This requires a change to our constitution and that will take place at our AGM in March 2009.

• Sara Maglio is slowly transitioning into her Executive Director role and will continue as the Technical Director as well.  Other changes to our technical staff structure will be forthcoming through the spring and summer with additional positions being offered.

• Postings for the Registrar and Men’s Premier Head Coach positions have been completed.  We will post later this spring for a Mini Referee Scheduler and a Divisional Game Official Scheduler. 

• Spring/summer of 2009 will see our first club Y-League teams taking to the fields.  We will field 8 youth teams and they will play through the May – July timeframe.  The top team from each division will then attend the North American Finals in Florida in November.  Please check out our website for more information.

• We will also have three teams in the Pacific Coast Soccer League (PCSL) this spring and summer.  A Women’s Premier team, a Women’s U21 team and a Men’s U21 team.  The Tri-Cities Xtreme Soccer Club was purchased last year by CMFSC and the above teams represent our first club teams in the PCSL.

• The above Y-League and PCSL programs don’t just fall into the lap of any soccer organization.  These programs have been awarded to our soccer club due to the hard work of our volunteers and staff. 

• The Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC is seen as a well organized, professional organization with good technical staff and operational excellence.  Our club is seen as one that focuses on coach and player development first and foremost.  We have been asked to provide best practices to other soccer organizations and provide information on our policies and procedures, structure and constitutional by-laws.

As always, I am proud to represent this soccer club.  This club causes me many opportunities, some challenges and much enjoyment.  It is great to be part of such a well run club………a club that continues to put player and coach development at the top of its priorities.  Our Board, Executive, volunteers and staff are doing a tremendous job leading the way to much more success.  Have a great finish to your 2008/2009 season!

Gayle Statton
President, Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC

___________________________________________________________________________________