The Ontario Soccer Summit is Ontario Soccer’s pinnacle annual personal and professional development and networking event with a track record of modern and meaningful content and leading speakers unrivalled in the country. We are delighted to confirm an extraordinary trio of keynote speakers that will truly change the game for all in attendance at the Ontario Soccer Summit 2023.
1) John Herdman – Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach:
On the eve of Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team staging their long-awaited return to the global stage at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Ontario Soccer is elated to announce that iconic Head Coach John Herdman will spearhead a group of outstanding keynote speakers.
Herdman is the architect of the Canadian Men’s National Team’s meteoric ascent from the periphery of the world’s game to becoming the reigning Kings of Concacaf securing their first World Cup berth in 36 years in the process while beating both their confederation rivals Mexico and the US in the process.
This magnificent feat is even more extraordinary, seeing that Herdman achieved similar breakthrough success with the Canadian Women’s National Team program previously, building it back up from scratch between 2011 and 2018. During his tenure, the Women’s National Team posted 62 wins, 14 draws and 32 losses in 108 international “A” matches, competed in front of a home crowd at the FIFA Women’s World Cup (2015) and won back-to-back Olympic Bronze medals (2012, 2016).
Early on in his reign as Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach, Herdman inspired the audience at the Ontario Soccer Summit 2019 in London with sharing his vision for turning Canada into a bona fide Footballing Nation. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness this gifted presenter in person at the Ontario Soccer Summit 2023, when he shares behind the scenes anecdotes from Canada’s adventures at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, while charting a course to the FIFA World Cup 2026™ in Canada, the US and Mexico.
2) Allison Forsyth – Safe Sport Trailblazer and Principal at ITP Sport
A two-time Olympian and eight-time Canadian Champion in Alpine Skiing, and a top 15 world ranked athlete for nearly a decade, Allison Forsyth is an athlete, advocate and change maker. Motivated by her own harrowing experiences with athlete maltreatment victimization in the Canadian Sport System, Allison has emerged as the foremost authority, champion and leader in Safe Sport across Canada.
Her purpose as a true trailblazer for Safe Sport and founder of ITP Sport is to apply her boundless passion and energy to change a broken system and shift a culture in Canadian Sport, which has proven to be unsafe for athletes and prone to maltreatment of its participants.
With awareness and education as her top priorities, Allison will transform the audience’s perspective with her candid, fierce and unbridled account of her own story and empower a sense of urgency for all to rally around the need to embrace and implement Safe Sport proactively and decisively.
Her corporate background in business operations, systemic and crisis communication, and change management rounds out her experiential expertise to make ITP the leading agency for changing the Safe Sport landscape.
This is the call to all soccer leaders to join Allison as she aims to make sport a safe, positive place for athletes of all levels, driven by her commitment for a better future in sport for her three young children and yours.
3) Matt Young – Sport Sector Innovator and Principal at FSQ Sport
As a widely acclaimed Sport System Innovator, Matt Young is a Business in Vancouver Top 40 Under 40, and Caldwell Partners Canadian Top 40 Under 40 business award winner.
His unmatched ability to distill complex constructs into bite-sized pieces that can be readily understood has made him a sought-after business consultant and led him to be globally recognized as THE expert in turning Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) from theory into an operating system.
On his journey to creating the best possible sport environment possible for ALL participants and never settling for the status quo, Matt has done transformative work with organizations ranging from grassroots to professional & Olympic levels of sport in eight countries, collaborating with 32 Regional & National Sport Organizations, two Professional Leagues, six Olympic Federations and seven Universities among other clients.
As a strong believer that “Culture Trumps Process”, this is your opportunity to join Matt in walking the talk and living your values as you elevate your organization to a new level. Let’s join forces at the Ontario Soccer Summit 2023 to embrace and enact Matt’s mantra: “As many as possible, as long as possible, in the best environments possible!”
4) Group Ticket Portal – Now LIVE (click here)!
With our exhilarating roster of 2023 keynote speakers now revealed and topic stream session speakers forthcoming, it is time to secure your organization’s group ticket for this tremendous meeting of the foremost soccer minds in Canada. Bring your team of coaches, match officials and administrators to our beautiful National Capital City for some teambuilding and road trip memories.
