WMSA Soccer programming considers Long-Term Player Development (LTPD) & playing formats that are aligned to Ontario Soccer Grassroots Standards.

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Ontario Soccer Grassroots Standards

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In 2005, Federal, Provincial and Territorial Sport Ministers accepted “Long-Term Athlete Development” as Canada’s development framework and committed to full provincial and territorial implementation in 2007. Since then, these concepts have been embedded in major national, provincial and territorial agencies for over a decade. As a leading organization, Ontario Soccer is committed remove barriers to participation and performance, and help make our systems more effective for players.

Those players could be recreation or development players as both groups need to establish a solid grounding and developmental base to play and enjoy soccer for life or progress through the talented pathways and beyond.

 

What is critical as parents, coaches, administrators, and match officials is that we understand the philosophical shift of what a quality soccer program is and why it is important in the culture shift necessary to improve the game in Canada.

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Ontario Player Development League

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Launched in 2014 with the 2001 age group, the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL) is one of the province's first standards-based, youth high performance league that combines top level competition with strict high performance training standards.

 

This innovative exciting youth high performance program is an important component of the overall movement to adopt the core principles of Long Term Player Development (LTPD) across soccer at large in Ontario and Canada. OPDL encompasses the U13 to U17 age categories, for both males and females.

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OPDL represents young players' early graduation to a genuine high performance training environment, targeting the top athletes in the province from age groups U13 to U17, constituting the highest level of competitive youth soccer in Ontario. OPDL operates more as a high performance training program than merely a league.