I want to share some personal news with the #CanadianSoccer community.
The time has come for me to step down as President of League1 Canada.
I was invited to take on this exciting project 19 months ago with the goal of Unifying, Elevating, and Expanding the sport of soccer at the Pro-Am level across Canada, from coast to coast.
I’m quite proud of what we’ve achieved thus far. The creation of the League1 Canada Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship has been very exciting and I know it’s going to get bigger and better each year.
We recently acquired League1 BC, which is a big development and will promote greater alignment and shine a bigger spotlight on that league and all its talent.
We have also worked closely with Alberta Soccer to support their successful launch of League1 Alberta and, just yesterday, we announced that L1AB is officially joining the League1 Canada National Alliance, growing membership from three leagues to four.
While we haven’t yet achieved the goal of announcing the official launches of League1 Atlantic and League1 Prairies, I am confident that will happen sooner rather than later. There is a sincere interest in Atlantic Canada, as well as Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It’s just a matter of time.
Recently, Canadian Soccer Business, which owns and operates League1 Canada, published a job posting for the League1 Canada General Manager. While the title is different, the person who ultimately fills that position will be tasked with continuing what I started and taking League1 Canada (and all the properties it manages), to the next level. The role deserves the full attention of a very passionate and hard-working person. I’m not able to give the role my undivided attention. It is time to make way for someone who can and will.
I expect the new L1 Canada General Manager will be in place fairly soon. If the position interests you, forward your CV as soon as possible as interviews will commence shortly. Until such time that the GM position is filled on a full-time basis, I am pleased to share that my trusted colleague John Gibson has agreed to serve as Interim General Manager.
I will continue in my volunteer role as Executive Chairman of League1 Ontario as we head into our 10th-anniversary season. L1ON has an outstanding leadership team, headed by Matthew Braithwaite, Chris Keem, and Melissa McKinnon. They do 99% of the heavy lifting these days, allowing me to stay closely connected to this passion project without having to invest nearly as much time as I gave to it in the early days.
Resigning from my League1 Canada role will allow me to focus more time on another volunteer position I hold, serving as a member of the Board of Directors at the Canadian Soccer Association at an important time for that organization.
I want to thank the CSB/CPL team, but especially Scott Mitchell, Mark Noonan, Costa Smyrniotis, Glen Johnson, Marni Dicker, Dylan Hewko, Shaun Guest, Laura Armstrong, and Tidiane Bah for their support of the L1 Canada project and for providing the resources that were needed. It has been an enormous pleasure to work with them in this capacity.
I also want to thank all the Provincial Soccer Association leaders I’ve had the pleasure to work with over these many months, but especially Sonia Denoncourt of Soccer Québec and Gabriel Assis of BC Soccer. They have been integral in the organization of the first two editions of the Inter-Provincial Championship and are true leaders in our sport. I also want to thank my friend and colleague Anthony Totera for his tireless efforts promoting League1 and our sport across Canada as our Grassroots Outreach Ambassador.
A lot has changed since the Black T-Shirt campaign back in September 2007 but my desire to make a positive, meaningful impact on the Canadian Soccer landscape persists. With that said, it’s time to give some more priority to my family, my business (no… soccer is not how I make my living), and my health. I appreciate all the support that I’ve received more than you will ever know.
Please continue to #SupportLocalSoccer
Dino