The OSA News Bulletin  

Caledon Soccer Club (CSC) recently made great strides in accelerating the development of the club by hiring nationally renowned coaching educator Stuart Neely. “I am truly excited about working with CSC. Taking this post was an easy decision for me since the club executive is so committed to education. The better you educate the coaches, the better you can empower the players with skills. Having a positive impact on coaches and players involved in our ‘beautiful game’ is truly my passion, so this relationship with Caledon will be a good fit.”

Neely has spent the last ten years garnering a strong national reputation as an innovative educator of coaches. As a coaches’ coach Neely is able to instruct coaches in the specifics of every provincial and national certification course, and then assess their mastery of the course requirements. As the club’s technical programmes manager, one of the major roles Neely will assume is that of instructing coaches. He will also serve as a mentor coach for a variety of teams within the club.

Neely has held similar positions for other high-profile soccer organizations. He formerly served as technical programmes manager for the Canadian Soccer Association, the director of player development for the Ontario Soccer Association, and technical director for the Manitoba Soccer Association. Neely holds the Canadian A License (the highest soccer coaching award in Canada). Neely joins Caledon Head Coach Steve Hill, a UEFA-B coaching license holder, in propelling CSC in a bold new direction regarding coaching. “The club has made coaching development its top priority for 2007 and onwards. Hiring Stuart is the idea complement to Caledon’s new vision,” says Hill.

Neely and Hill will be implementing an age-specific soccer curriculum modeled on the successful European soccer academy structure. “Coaching is the same process as traditional education. Certain skills need to be mastered at certain ages, just like in school. The age-specific soccer curriculum of the European academies is built on this foundation of age-appropriate progression of skills and techniques,” says Neely. The progressive approach to coaching and player development will ensure that CSC produces players who can truly play the ‘beautiful game’.

Home-base for all CSC games is the Caledon East Soccer Complex; a multi-field venue generally regarded as one of the best in southern Ontario. Currently, CSC has representative teams for boys at the U-11, U-12, U-13, U-14, U-15, U-17 levels, and representative teams for girls at the U-11, U-15, U-17, U-21 levels; with most representative teams continuing to hold try-outs through the winter months. CSC also has a growing All-Star (“Developmental”) and Recreational division. Next registration for players, and prospective coaches, is Saturday, February 17 from 10 AM until 2 PM at the Caledon Community Centre on Old Church Road, Caledon East.

For more specific information regarding registration, go to www.caledonsoccer.com

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