Local talent tagged for TAG

The Ontario Soccer Association and the Referee Development Department announced the leaders for the newly formed Technical Advisory Group (TAG) today. This group is designed to replace the current Instructors and Assessors Advisory Groups for referee development in the province with an eye toward creating more inclusivity and succession planning.

The main goal of this new group was to be a counterpart to the OSA's Technical Advisory Committee, which advises the board of directors on all matters soccer related, but seems to concentrate more on the player and coach development stream.

The main goal of the TAG is to bring together important and key thinkers and leaders within Ontario to work with the Referee Development Department and Referee Development Committee on various priorities as the Long Term Player Development (LTPD) plan is implemented.
The group will consist of six major pillars, those being:

1. Grassroots and Club Level Programming
2. Referee Coaching and Mentorship
3. Advanced  Programming
4. LTPD
5. Assessment Programming
6. Instruction and Education Programming

Under each of these pillars, the identified priorities are recruitment and retention, support at the grassroots level, clearer pathways (Pyramid of Play) for Youth to Provincial official development tied to LTPD and Soccer4Life, increased quality and quantity of all programs, offering opportunities for all members to reach their potential, and consistent deliverable education across the province by accredited instructors and an online learning management system.

With these goals in mind, the OSA announced the new TAG leaders today. Included in this list are two local talents, local referee Alison Josselyn, who was chosen to be a co-leader in the Grassroots Programming pillar along with Tom Stuckey, reporting to Karim Kanji, and Belleville Youth Soccer Club admin Stella Haskin, who will be working with Wayne Sharp and reporting to Jack Hughes in the LTPD pillar.

The other leaders include Steve Mortimer (Referee Coaching and Mentorship) with Mark Doughbrough and Mike Bradley, Tony Camacho (Advanced Programming) with Claude Henoud and Marlene Ford, Gord Arrowsmith (Assessment Program) with Peter Kalpouzos and Day Wybo, and Phil Moore (Instruction Program) with John Barrie and Monico Blaney.