Oregon Youth Soccer Association Annual General Meeting 2016 Annual Report Presidents Letter 2016 AGM – Oregon Youth Soccer Association Greetings to you, thanks for attending the AGM this year! As usual, I am delighted to report that the OYSA Board and the member clubs have had another worthwhile year engaging the youth of Oregon and southwest Washington in playing soccer in competitions at various levels. Many of you around the State of Oregon played a big role in the oversight of these participating youth. Thank you, thank you! Thanks to the member clubs who spend enormous energy and volunteer hours managing leagues, clubs, teams with coaches and players from Top Soccer up through the levels of play to the highest at premier. Thanks to parents who assist their youth in playing the game. It goes without saying that the staff of OYSA should be thanked as well. Their leadership and daily labor in this organization serve all of us who love to see young people enjoying themselves in the game. They continue to re-enforce the three focus words of education, communication, and collaboration that weave their way through the aspects of OYSA’s role in achieving great and safe experiences in youth soccer. We have partners outside of OYSA that add value to what we can offer youth soccer players around the state. We thank them! Portland Timbers (MSL Champs!), USYSA at the Regional and National levels, and other state associations are some who participate with us in expanding playing opportunities. Thanks to the referee community that supports our games. Without them there would be no youth soccer competitions. Thanks to the Board of Directors who work faithfully to oversee the organization and set policy that advances opportunities for the youth to have fun in learning the game we all love. I will allow the staff to fill-in the “what we did this year” stats in their reports. It was my privilege to serve as your President. Steve Meckel President OYSA Staff Reports CEO & Technical Director -John Madding As we embark on another year of youth soccer in the state of Oregon we have seen the game change significantly from where we were at last year’s Annual General Meeting. We have continued to position the Association among the leaders nationally in terms of creating an inclusive, and player-centric environment. Our theme this year is T.E.A.M. - Together Everyone Achieves More. It is with that philosophy that we enter 2016 stronger than ever, and with the tools necessary to ensure that together we can advance the beautiful game in Oregon. We would also be remiss if we did not congratulate the Portland Timbers on their fantastic MLS Cup victory in 2015. There is not a club in MLS with more passionate fans, more community involvement, and that is a better example of how the success on and off the field in conjunction with a partnership unlike any other with their state youth association can yield tremendous results. We are honored and excited to have such a fantastic relationship with the 2015 MLS Champs. Grassroots Coaching In 2015 our Director of Coaching Education, Bob Bigney, took a teaching position down in New Mexico to be closer to his family. We’d like to thank Bob for his service in Oregon and wish him all the best in his new role. While considering replacements for Bob's vacant position we decided to take a completely new approach to our coaching education program. Having one person cover the entire state left us lighter on coverage than we would have preferred during peak times. We decided to undertake a bold new initiative and created the Grassroots Coordinator positions. These six new coaches, positioned strategically across the state, give us much better localized coverage and enable us to support a much greater area of the population. In addition, two of the six positions are solely focused on our Latino coaching demographic which we are very eager to grow and service. We now have coverage in East Portland and the I-84 Corridor, and West Portland and the coastal regions. We have a central valley coordinator based in Eugene who will service the Willamette Valley and Bend locales. We also have one down in the southern Oregon area that will handle the growing need for coaching education down there. Our two Latino coaches are based in Portland and Corvallis and will cover individualized needs as they arise from clubs across Oregon. These coordinators, all established coaches within their own rights, will undertake coaching education courses, individual club education requirements as needed and requested, as well as our entry-level referee education courses. We are extremely excited to see the impact that these six new positions will have and know that with this new initiative we will be able to impact much more than we ever have. Referee Education In addition to our new emphasis on coaching education we have also taken the reins of our referee development in the state. We have bought onboard David Grbavac as our Manager of Referee Development who, along with new schedulers will look to mentor, recruit, retain, and develop new referees across the state. Referees are an extremely valuable part of our game, and over the years we have seen a steady decline in the number of new referees. We are taking the lead and are extremely excited to have David on board. He is very respected in the referee world and the ideas and energy he brings to this new position will make a huge difference in the state. We know in the past referees have often been seen as a necessary yet adversarial part of our game and we want to ensure that they are considered an equal part of our association and the game in general. They are part of our team. Without them there is no game so bringing them onboard is extremely beneficial for all parties. We also have significant club buy-in for this new role and really feel it is going to be a team collaboration going forward. The NEW GoalLines Magazine! We are extremely excited to announce that we will be giving GoalLines magazine a facelift starting in February. We will be enhancing the digital version from its current single page quarterly format to a new magazine style that will come out monthly. There will be more content, more individualized stories, and it will be completely interactive with our members. Our new Marketing Manager, Simon Date, will be developing content on an ongoing basis with exciting new segments covering individual clubs, coaches, and guest contributors. There will be pieces from the Grassroots coordinators, Referee Development, and other fun items. We will have video content, polls, and targeted advertising with our partners. There will be special offers, prizes, and much more. We don't want to give too much away at this point but look for the brand new version arriving in late February in your inbox. Partnerships We are excited to continue our partnerships with Gear FC as the official partner for our small-sided games. They will also be the provider of the equipment we need for our coaching education resources. Our continued partnership with the NSCAA is as strong as ever and is reflected in the growing number of courses we are offering through their organization. We are lucky to be able to partner with them going forward. Affinity sports continues to be our registration service of choice and is a valued and critical part to the success of soccer in the state. We are now working with over 55,000 participants and are excited and reassured for the service and security that Affinity provide. We are also happy to announce that our coaching education opportunities have gone international. We will be announcing the details of our partnership with Celtic Football Club in the coming months which give us a fantastic opportunity to see how things are done on the other side of the pond. This is once again, a perfect example of how our association is leading the way in coaching education in the United States. As you can see, we have been extremely busy during the past year and have laid the groundwork for success and opportunity in 2016. We are extremely excited and honored that you are part of the ride. We have no intention, however, of sitting on our laurels this year and will continue to put the Oregon Youth Soccer Association among the very best in the country. Member Services -Brian Scott Member Services is dedicated to identifying and responding to the needs of clubs and their members. For most clubs this involves referee and player development opportunities, risk management, inter and intra club grievance resolution and assisting with issues such as club legal challenges, bylaw and/or policy revisions, and risk management. In addition to serving member clubs, the department has been involved in the operation of sponsored leagues and tournaments. Member Services is also responsible for assisting the OYSA Vice President to manage OYSA disciplinary hearings as well as supporting and expanding TOPSoccer programs in member clubs and the Soccer Across America program. Maintaining frequent contact with our member clubs is an essential activity of Member Services so OYSA can be aware of and respond to the changing business and programmatic landscape that confronts our clubs throughout our state. Last year we aided in establishing new clubs, assisted several groups to understand the process of establishing a club, assisted existing clubs with bylaw reviews and other governance issues and assisted in resolving a number of disputes and grievances.