It’s been a year. No outdoor soccer, limited indoor training, and a year of missed connections. Unable to work with our staff, families and players face to face has revealed challenges that have limited our influence on the game. In a year where we’ve had to pivot to affect soccer virtually, success was found in new and meaningful ways. While we at Hamilton Soccer are excited at the prospect at returning to fields in safe capacities, we hope that seeing the list of our shared successes below makes our collective wait that much easier.

Thank you for being an integral member of our community, all the wins below are as much yours as they are ours. We can’t wait to see you in 2021.

Hamilton Soccer Launches Rebrand at Ontario Soccer Summit

Months of work was unveiled at the Ontario Soccer Summit to kick off 2020. A refreshed logo, website and tools were released with the goal of drawing easier and more meaningful connections to families in our region. Just as importantly, our Player Pathway and Find My Club tools are key in educating players in where they fall into our community and how they can grow within it.

Staying Engaged

While clubs and academies pivoted to engage membership online we used our platform to amplify the soccer lifestyle in our homes. Thousands of clicks came through on our Hamilton Soccer Activity Sheets, Aleks Balta of Hamilton United launched a podcast, and families united around stories on Netflix, OneSoccer and other platforms.

COVID-19 Report Goes National

In May our secretary released our report on the COVID-19 Pandemic and areas of concern as clubs prepare for an eventual learn to play. The report gained 15k impressions on social media leading to hundreds of downloads across the country to get the gears turning on how clubs safely return to play.

Read the full report here.

Professional Success Continues

While the grassroots game was grounded, the CPL and MLS took flight. In January Ryan Raposo was drafted 4th overall in the MLS Superdraft to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Getting two starts, Raposo played just under 400 minutes and got one assist in a 1-0 win over the Galaxy.

Closer to home the Canadian Premier League rolled out a 35 game season on Prince Edward Island in a bubble environment. With only one loss all tournament, Forge won the Island games with a 2-0 result over the Halifax Wanderers. Forge were further rewarded with a birth in CONCACAF League and a date with Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship Finals in 2021.

Inaria Becomes Official Apparel Partner of Hamilton Soccer

Supplying soccer apparel for grassroots and professional teams around the world, Inaria comes on board with Hamilton Soccer. Outfitting club presidents, Inaria will also be working with HS on charitable initiatives in 2020.

Hamilton Soccer Launches Youtube Channel

Not short on content, Hamilton Soccer launched a YouTube channel to house our long form content. On the page you can find introductory coaching videos produced by our friends at Forge FC. For our budding match officials we have also provided quizzes to keep your in game mind sharp.