Ontario Soccer Association

Everton officially joined forces with the Ontario Soccer Association in Canada in November 2005, launching an exciting new initiative.

Former Chief Executive Keith Wyness travelled to Canada to formalise the link for the initiative that is entitled 'Play Soccer' in 2005.

The link-up has a host of benefits as the Club continues with ambitious plans to establish Everton as a global brand.

The aim of the project is to simply encourage new participants to take up the game of football in the Ontario region using Everton Football Club's wealth of experience and expertise.

There are more than 438,000 outdoor/indoor players in the province, along with 10,000 referees, 30,000 coaches plus 14,000 volunteers and the 'Play Soccer' project is focused on ensuring those numbers continue to grow.

Everton's role in the project is to provide its coaches and coaching systems to the participants plus commercial expertise which in turn will give the club the exposure required to develop the business brand and generate new revenues from channels that were previously unavailable.

A number of young sides from the Ontario region have visited Merseyside since the launch of the partnership, with sides from Everton also making the journey to North America.

The Everton Ladies team travelled to Canada in June 2006 as part of the tie-in with the OSA.

The project is mainly based in the Ontario area for the local community to benefit but Everton has also played host to players and coaches visiting to participate in specially prepared clinics.

For more information regarding this initiative or others undertaken internationally by Everton, please contact the International Development team on +44 (0)151 530 5323.