Episode 5 - March 3, 2025 - Ontario Soccer Insights, Tools to Improve Productivity, Event Updates and Exclusive Offers

Sanford Carabin

Hello Everyone. Welcome to this weeks Episode of the Directors Corner!

Sanford Carabin

Our focus this week will highlight the Ontario Soccer Summit that was held in Niagara this past weekend, outline three Tools that can help you with workplace productivity, suggest some upcoming events to put on your Clubs or Academy's radar and finally, our very first exclusive offer for listeners of the Directors Corner.

Sanford Carabin

We start with the 2025 Ontario Soccer Summit!

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This years event focused on the theme of "Leadership and Legacy," and it didn't disappoint. Both the Male and Female head coaches for our National Teams were presenters and gave engaging lectures and field sessions emphasizing the importance of fostering resilience within teams.

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What stood out to me was their openness, transparency and empathetic approach in their respective leadership roles. This way of thinking, reacting to changes quickly without being rigid in their methods was very refreshing to hear. They both talked about understanding not just players as athletes but as individuals—each with their own unique needs and motivations. It’s about perspective, you know, seeing the person before the player, which many of us as leaders tend to overlook in the rush of competition.

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But you know, what always amazes me about these summits — and this goes beyond just the sessions — is the networking and reconnection to colleagues and vendors. That is where I think the Magic happens. I had so many conversations in hallways, at the social events, over pizza or coffee...throughout the weekend ....that I was late for several of the sessions. It seemed to me that this happened with a large majority of the attendees and got me thinking that moving forward, Ontario Soccer should consider incorporating more two way communication workshops for likeminded people to get together to discuss common issues, concerns and develop solutions that can move the game forward. Those moments of collaborative learning are, honestly, invaluable.

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Its great to sit in on presentations from experts from Holland, Manchester United, Atlanta United but I question how relevant these presentations are to the day to day operations that the majority of attendees, leaders at the youth and community levels in the Clubs, are working at.

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I mean really ........thinking about operations at the club level, the constant challenges of trying to find alternate revenue sources to keep the game affordable, the lack of indoor facilities across the provinces, the fragmentation of clubs, academies, districts, not to mention the ever changing competition formats and implementation of standards across all leagues, etc these are the topics that need addressing and the Summit....to me....offers the perfect environment to do so. Candid, open, inclusive discussions are needed in many ways to bridge the gap between clubs, districts and the province's governing body.

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Ok switching gears..........Let me tell you, when it comes to staying productive, especially in a high-paced environment like soccer management, the right tools can make all the difference. And one of the things I’ve noticed, both personally and from others in the industry, is that there are just so many productivity tools out there that it’s kinda overwhelming, right? So today, I wanna narrow it down to three that I think can really elevate how we work.

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First up is a survey tool by a company called HUB and the program is called Feedback Stream......you can access it by searching feedbackstream .ai

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Its an audio, online tool that uses AI to gather feedback. Essentially, its an automated survey tool with a twist. For instance, if you want to get a pulse on how your indoor program is going, you can create a series of questions on the platform, create a survey link and send to your membership via email. When a member clicks on the link in the email, it takes them to your branded survey page and an automated voice engages them through the survey like they were talking on a phone. Once finished .(note: i would suggest no more than a 2 minute survey.)...it automatically send you a text summary of the survey to your inbox, with 1 minute.

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Their are different price plans but having recently tried this with an OPDL club, it works so well on a persons phone or laptop that you can literally survey your members instantly about anything.

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Now, tool number two is a bit more geared towards personal productivity and can be used not only in soccer management but everyday life.

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This second tool is called Wisper Flow. the URL is www.wisprflow.ai

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Its an effortless voice dictation program that is free to download to your laptop and can be used to reply to emails by simply speaking your response as opposed to having the type in replies. Once installed, open up an email, hit the reply button and then simply press down on the function key on your keyboard and speak your reply. Your words are captured precisely without having to type anything.

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A Hugely time consuming tool that is now apart of my daily work.

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The third tool, and maybe the most underappreciated one is Chat GPT...

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Not probably a new tool for most of you...if your already using it... but I wanted to highlight a different application of the tool that I tested a few weeks and I was amazed at the results.

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Here it is....most clubs at this time are ramping up their sponsorship drives for the summer. In many cases, House league programs are heavily reliant on local business to step up and sponsor a team, age, group, division, etc. The problem is attracting these sponsors. Most clubs simply rely on sponsors contacting them as they do not have the human resources to get on the phone and call local business or drive around knocking on doors. So how can AI improve this process?

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Well, using CHatGPT, I developed a prompt that asked it to identify the local businesses in my Club's town that would be open to sponsoring youth sports. To qualify, I asked Chat GPT to check if the company had previously sponsored any youth sports programs in the area and if so, what they were. I also prompted it to check the company's community policies and sponsorship pages to ensure their was an alignment with our clubs values.

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The results, Chat GPT responded with 6 targeted local companies that met the parameters i asked for. This essentially allowed me to create a targeted sponsorship list from scratch.

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So, whether you’re leading a club, managing a team, or just trying to get through the daily grind, incorporating the right tools isn’t just about saving time. It’s about working smarter, not harder, so you can focus on what really matters. Give these tools a try .

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Finally, as we enter the bridge period—the transition between indoor and outdoor seasons—teams have a valuable opportunity to lay the foundation for success. With most turf fields opening in April, this month is ideal for bringing players together to reinforce a club’s game model and playing principles. This highlights the importance of carefully selecting events when moving outdoors in April and May.

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Here are three recommended outdoor events for the April-May preseason period:

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Firstly, the Canada Cup hosted by Ottawa South United

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This event is for OPDL and Competitive Teams U13 to U17.

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Its held in Ottawa between April 18th and the 20th. Each team will play three games. Reach out to Jim Lianos at the club for more details...

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Secondly, the Niagara Spring Classic hosted by the Niagara Soccer Club

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This event is for Grassroots Teams U8 to U12

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Its held in Niagara over two weekends. The Girls Weekend is from April 25th to 27th and the Boys Weekend from May 2nd to 4th.

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Each team plays two games. Visit the Niagara Soccer Club website for more details

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And finally there is First on the Turf hosted by the Guelph Soccer Club

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This is a mix of festival and tournament-style play with game days between April 25th and May 4th. Visit the Guelph Soccer Club website for more details.

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Now, before we wrap things up, I’ve got a special offer for all the Technical Directors. As loyal listeners of Director’s Corner, we are able to offer an exclusive 10% discount on all coaching books from a company called Duktig. You can visit them at Duktig brand .com. If you haven’t checked these out yet, I highly recommend them—they’re game-changers in organizing and planning your sessions, scouting opposition and writing coaching notes during matches.

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Honestly, these books have been a staple in my own coaching kit for years. They’re designed to simplify your workflow while keeping everything super accessible. It’s a simple tool, but one that can make a big difference.

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Head over to Duktig brand .com. and when you check out ....use my last name....CARABIN in the coupon section ...and you will get 10% off.

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And with that, we’ve reached the end of our episode. It’s always a pleasure sharing insights and connecting with you all. Until next time, keep pushing the game forward, stay inspired, and, most importantly, enjoy every step of the journey. Take care!