By Trevor Greenway
editor@lowdownonline.com
Soccer des Collines is getting serious about footy in the Hills.
The organization has hired two new professional directors – both of whom bring some high-level soccer experience, and it has installed a new president and a new board of directors, while laying out a new vision for success on the pitch.
According to Soccer des Collines president Roy-Girard, just 420 females joined the league this year, compared to 683 males. To combat this, Roy-Girard and his team have been speaking with female soccer leagues around the country for ideas on how to entice young women to pick up or continue the sport. Roy-Girard said female numbers are strong in four-to-six-age range, but there’s a drop-off when the kids get older. What it needs now is volunteers, young coaches and more female players.
“There is a very low number of girl registrations, but it’s not just a Des Collines problem; it’s a soccer Outaouais problem,” said Roy-Girard. “The whole region is low on women, and in our case, there seems to be a gap in the seven-to-eight-age group. We don’t have that next generation that is going to fill in.”
This year’s registration numbers show that in the U8 (seven-eight age group), boys greatly outnumber their female counterparts – 120 boys compared to just 38 girls.
The hope is that this year’s summer Olympics, where Canada’s female squad will take on France, Colombia and New Zealand in Group A, will help entice younger girls to stay in soccer. Roy-Girard said that Canada’s sports culture still revolves around men’s hockey, but with the success of the new women’s hockey league (PWHL) and the rise in popularity of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), he said he’s hoping more young girls will see how far soccer will take them.
“We don’t have the [soccer] culture like hockey, where everyone knows the game and knows the players,” he said. “And because the majority of our players are under 12, we want to show them that it’s about having fun, but it’s also important to show where they can go with it; they can go to university; they can get scholarships; they don’t have to be a professional player. But we’re going to start to try and educate our base to let them know what opportunities are out there.”
Part of the overhaul at Soccer des Collines was due to past years’ struggles, during which Roy-Girard admitted the organization “let down” parents, coaches and players. Communication, management structure and governance issues have plagued the club since the pandemic, he said.
So, cue the talent. Soccer des Collines hired former Brazilian professional player Juninho da Silva as its technical director to help steer the club along. Da Silva has played professional soccer in Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, Tunisia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. over a 20-year career. Roy-Girard said he will be instrumental in helping increase players’ skills this season.
The club also brought on sporting director Anthony Delion, who holds degrees in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) coaching and is a certified technical director. Delion, from southern France, has played soccer since age five and founded the highly successful Plateau Soccer Club in Gatineau.
Both new directors are full-time hires, and the hope is that they will maintain consistency from year to year, while board members and presidents are swapped out yearly.
“Anthony and Juninho are critical for the continuation of the club,” said Roy-Girard. “We want to be able to have a club that can run year after year without depending on the board members. If I leave tomorrow, the club should not fold,” he said. “I think our biggest struggle is communication with members. We’ve not been great at that in the past. I think we’re getting better at responding and being a little more proactive. I still feel like we’re a little last minute, but you know, we’re going to continue to improve on that.”
The club is in good financial shape, said Roy-Girard, and said it has some surplus money this year that will go back into the club to offer free training sessions for players. He also said there would be free spring training, some specialty sessions like goaltender training, and a bigger year-end party, adding that he is hoping for some team outings, like Olympic viewing parties and going to see Atlético Ottawa games at TD Place.
Soccer registration for most age groups closed on April 30, however, the club is accepting registrations for U4-8 until the end of May.