Pickering FC
COVID-19 Update
July 24, 2020
Dear PFC Family,
 
We wanted to share with you the very sad news that one of our All Abilities Coaches, and a Canada Soccer Para player, Lucas MacIsaac passed away on Sunday July 19 th .
 
Lucas was a dedicated volunteer with the All Abilities program during the last two fall/winter seasons traveling to and from our Pickering Football Club every Saturday morning from his home in Campbellville, ON. His passion for the sport of soccer was evident as he mentored our young athletes, leading them in fitness, soccer skills and soccer games. In addition to volunteering with our All Abilities Program, he also jumped into training with our Blind Soccer program and his team mates from the Canada Soccer Para Team. He even made the trek down to Hamilton for the Ontario Soccer Summit and participated in the demo for Para Soccer in front of 40+ delegates, this past February.
 
We are so grateful that Lucas found his way to the Pickering Football Club, and picked our exceptional programs to be a part of. He had a huge impact on our coaches, staff, volunteers and our athletes. His resilience and his willingness to assist us, even when he was not feeling 100% is something we always admired and that will stay with us for many years to come. Under the pandemic lockdown we missed seeing him in person but he was participating in our Virtual All Abilities Program, until two weeks ago actively listening to the group and enjoying hearing from his friends.
 
Lucas exemplified the very core of what we do as a Club and the power that soccer has to bring people together. Our condolences go out to Lucas’s family, and to everyone who was touched by Lucas.
 
 
A tree will be planted and commemorated at the front of the Pickering Soccer Centre in his name.
Community
Match Official Return to Play kicked off this week at Princess Diana Fields with 13 referees including 5 that qualified during the lockdown. As of Wednesday July 29, training will be moved to Kinsmen Field 4 at the same time of 6:30 pm. I will provide details next week on the process for arrival and departure from the field.
Thanks to Alanna for taking the team through a 45-minute session the feedback we received was very positive and will continue to address fitness while they begin to include some match official specific drills/exercises. Alanna was good enough to provide everyone with a homework session so we encourage our Match Officials to follow them at home but we know you’d get much more benefit (and social) coming out the field each Wednesday. 
If you are planning on joining us then contact Dave Lord ( admin-rec@pickeringfc.ca ) to confirm your well-being and awareness of our pandemic protocols. If you are not planning on being a match official in 2020 outdoor/2020-2021 indoor then please also let Dave know.
 
The Virtual All Abilities Program continues this Tuesday July 28 th from 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Our All Abilities Coordinator, Tammy, sends out a reminder each Monday. If any of our coaches, volunteers, athletes or parents would like to assist with programming on one of our upcoming dates, please let her know ASAP. 
Respect
RESPECT
Club Staff would specifically like to thank the parents of the Grassroots, Competitive and OPDL programs for their assistance at the training sessions at Kinsmen Park and Princess Diana fields. Your attention to the guidelines that the Club laid out as we returned to train back on July 2 is very much appreciated by the Club and the players. We have observed orderly drop off and pick up of players, social distancing in the parking lot and recognizing the need to not gather around the fields during the sessions in our efforts to provide a safe environment for our players, staff, coaches and other parents. A big thanks to you from the Executive, Board, Staff, coaches and players for the role that you are playing! Let's continue to stay safe!

To make sure no one gets left out we also received this email from one of our highest-ranking referees within the Club;

‘Also thank you for involving the match officials with these sessions. I know myself personally, I have been actively involved with training through League1 but our younger officials with PFC may be lacking that physical and officiating involvement, so it’s great that you and the club are taking the initiative with doing these sessions involving another critical team member (officials) of the game of soccer and not just focusing on players and coaches'
Michael Huethe
Excellence
As a Canada Soccer National Youth Licensed Club, we are planning to take PFC to the next level and we want you involved. The Club will continue to refine its governance model to align with the Canada Soccer recommended model of a skills-based board supported by clear sub-committees and standing committees. This makes best use of everyone’s time and allows for more expertise and greater diversity at the core of the Club.
 
We’ve stated before that the Club has a hunger to come back to the field with ‘a renewed energy, with fresh ideas and lots of hope for the future’. That’s going to need your skill set, your energy and your ideas! Our first key date will be the PFC AGM to be held on November 18 th at the Pickering Soccer Centre where we would like to present our Standing Committees as:
·         Finance Committee.
·         Risk-Audit Committee.
·         Governance Committee.
·         Nominations Committee.
·         Strategic Planning Committee.

The Standing Committees are an integral part of any not-for-profit organization. They would typically meet once a month for 1-2 hours and address matters specific to their area of the Club. If you have an interest in volunteering some time on one of these Committees please contact Matt Greenwood at execdirector@pickeringfc.ca to arrange an informal chat.


Our Return to Play strategy is available on the PFC website under our COVIVD19 page for everyone’s reference and provides a lot of detail on the three key components to our Return to Play Strategy. We have also made available a recording of the webinar we had previously delivered to Grassroots, Competitive and OPDL families in June. The link can be found here.  
Player Centered
Recreational Virtual Training continues for a few more weeks.

  • The Active Start virtual sessions are now in week 5 of 6 focusing on development and physical literacy! Every Monday a new video is released to our Recreational players. Each video is 10 - 15 minutes and can be accessed on demand throughout the entire program. A special guest each week guides players through each video! The virtual program is available FREE of charge to any existing participants of our Active Start Program (U3-U7). If you are not currently registered but are interested in participating, we encourage you to register for our Outdoor Recreational Program using our $1 down registration (2 future installments subject to the season running).

  • The Club-based Recreational Virtual sessions have now moved to once a week, each Wednesday at 3pm. For new players, register for the Outdoor 2020 season here for only $1 down. Then click the image to register for the Virtual training session.

  • Learn to Train virtual sessions started this week and will run for four weeks. Each session is 25 to 30 minutes in length and comprised of 5 drills each 3 to 5 minutes long.
If you have any inquiries or questions regarding the program, please contact our Grassroots Director via email at grassroots@pickeringfc.ca
Transparency and Integrity
As a not-for-profit organization our money is very closely accounted for and we hope to get member and community support as we work through this situation.

High Performance
The PFC Board have reviewed the current OPDL fee and recommended a pro-rated reduction towards the overall payment. This is awaiting final feedback and will be shared with the OPDL families via personal email. The OPDL is still firmly focused on a mid-August start date and should be updating license holders within the next 10 days on their plans.

League 1 Ontario is seeking interest in a Fall League to run September-November. Any interested players should contact our Director of Soccer Operations, Dave Benning (dso@pickeringfc.ca) 

Competitive Outdoor
Competition for DRSL level teams is being revised as we opted out of entering the league this Summer. Along with other Clubs in the Region we will build our own schedule that affords us some flexibility we need to provide teams with peace of mind. Teams can still enter the DRSL if they so chose however any option will be discussed between the Head Coach and the Parent group before approval from the Director of Soccer Operations.
  • The CSL have confirmed they still plan to run a competition schedule this Summer.
  • We continue to make steady progress working with Team Staff on the preparation of any documentation, uniforms or payment concerns for all competitive teams.

Outdoor Recreational
The good news is that we are planning for a bigger and better indoor season running over 3 mini-seasons from September 1 st – late April. The concept will offer you the chance to enter all 3 mini-seasons or just the ones you feel comfortable entering. For example, September 1 st may still be too soon for you and your family so you could potentially join us in season 2 that will start in late November.

We would therefore like to offer you a credit code for the entire value of your registration this summer. This can be used at the checkout when you register for the Indoor season (opening August 1 st ). Ahead of the roll out for Indoor Recreational 2020 we will be sharing your unique credit code with you via email. If at this stage a refund is required please complete the attached form and submit for our attention at memberservices@pickeringfc.ca

For any Recreational player from U8-U12 interested in participating in our Grassroots U8-U12 program this is a great way to work with our excellent Coaching Staff, build your skills on the field and get a taste of the next level of development. All sessions are delivered by our professional coaches within a curriculum developed internally and endorsed by Canada Soccer. The recommended next steps are:
 
a. Click the image below and identify the Head Coach working with your child’s age and gender.
b. The Coaches name is also a hyperlink to their mail box.
c. Connect with them and confirm practice day and times.
d. Visit the session and observe the practice
e. Sign up for our pro-rated program fee through to the end of September.
Indoor Recreational
 
Our Indoor season will be bigger and better than ever. Our concept will see three mini-season runs from September 8 th through to May 8 th . Families can register for all three seasons or begin league play only when they feel comfortable. More details to follow. (Your Outdoor Rec credit can be used towards this program fee).
 
The Club is proud to note that this is our 19 th consecutive Weekly Update with you, our membership, since March 19 th . For the most up-to-date information please remember to follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or visit our COVID19 webpage .
 
If you have any questions or comments about this message please email: memberservices@pickeringfc.ca with 'COVID Update' in the Subject line.
Stay safe.
Matt Greenwood, Executive Director
Pickering Football Club
(905) 831-9803
PickeringFC.ca
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