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For the second time in four years, the Oakville Soccer Club (OSC) will not have an Ontario Cup champion. The OSC's last hope for an Ontario Cup title was eliminated in the semifinals Saturday when the under-13 girls' A team was edged 1-0 by the Burlington Bayhawks. All other OSC squads were already eliminated in either preliminary qualifying or round-robin tournaments, continuing a recent trend for local rep soccer clubs. After winning a combined total of 10 Ontario Cup titles from 2005-09, OSC clubs have won just two since then (under-21 women in 2011, U18 girls last year). The last time an OSC team younger than the U18 age group won a provincial crown was in 2009, when Oakville claimed Ontario titles in the U12 girls' and U15 boys' Tier 1 divisions. OSC executive director David Harris and technical director Dino Lopez are both aware of the club's recent struggles in Ontario Cup competition, but say they are not overly concerned. "We're not averse to winning, but you have to look at the big picture. Long-term development of kids is paramount for us, as opposed to just hoping to win championships and work that way," Harris Sports Editor said. "There's also Oakville Beaver been a shift, some parity coming. In the under-21s last year, Sault Ste. Marie was in the finals. We're seeing strength coming from all over the province... Other programs are developing." The OSC's Ontario Cup slump coincides with the club's apparent change in direction three years ago, when then-OSC technical director Jason de Vos fully embraced the Canadian Soccer Association's plan for long-term player development. De Vos, who himself went from an 11-year-old house league player to the eventual captain of the Canadian national men's team, said in 2009 that too many people use trophies as a measure of success and that ensuring youngsters enjoyed the game and learned the fundamentals should be the club's greatest priority. Still, it seems reasonable to expect that three years of cultivating young talent would yield a larger crop of success at the provincial level. One could argue that rep teams of the largest soccer club in the country should consistently be advancing to at least the quarter-finals of all-Ontario playdowns. Local high school teams have not had the same struggles provincially in recent years. The King's Christian Collegiate Cavaliers won Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Ontario Cup slump doesn't concern OSC 21 | Friday, August 16, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Jon Kuiperij boys' single-A gold in both 2008 and 2012, while the Holy Trinity Titans claimed girls' quad-A supremacy in 2012. Two years ago, both the Trinity girls (quad-A silver) and St. Thomas Aquinas boys (double-A bronze) earned medals as well. The success of local high school teams suggests there is still plenty of soccer talent in Oakville. Perhaps the larger issue is that a lot of these local players aren't wearing OSC colours. "At the young ages, Jorden Campbell of the Oakville Soccer Club under-13A team we're really happy with eludes a Burlington defender Saturday. Burlington won 1-0 to the players we're proadvance to the Ontario Cup final. ducing. But it's a player | photo by Eric Riehl -- Oakville Beaver retention issue," said Lopez, pointing out that we'd be pretty happy," said Lopez, noteven the U13 girls' team, the last sur- ing several club products have been vivor in Ontario Cup playdowns, lost invited to the Toronto FC Academy, five starters to other centres this year. played in Uruguay or received NCAA "We've been at the mercy of pro- scholarships over the past year. motion (to the "It's always nice to have a couple of Ontario Youth people from outside the community Soccer League, who are fantastic players and add to the top level what we're doing, but if we could in the Ontario keep our players, you would see a Soccer Associa- group of teams really competitive all tion's Pyramid the way through." For Play). If our One thing the OSC won't do, Harris teams get pro- said, is change its philosophy. Even if moted, we keep the Ontario Cup results look bad. our players. If "I think perception is really on the we don't get pro- person who's looking. Right or wrong, moted, we lose our players. do we care? We care about everything. "It can be more complex than that, We care about our brand, our players, but I'd say that's 50 per cent of it." our development," Harris said. Therein may lie the OSC's greater "But we're not going to change the challenge, and it's a bit of a vicious way we're moving because there's a cry cycle. The players will only stay if their from people... We know where we're teams do well, and their teams will only going. If you have a road map and you do well if the players stick around. have the right people in place, you "If we could keep our Oakville kids, know what's going to happen." HOME IMPROVEMENTS 905-845-3824 ext. 278 ahowe@oakvillebeaver.com AIR CONDITIONING/APPLIANCES Danny's Appliance Service 905-827-9559 ARBORIST Superior Tree Solutions 905-849-6395 BLINDS Emcoss Blinds 416-888-3444 www.emcossblinds.ca CHIMNEYS A.M. 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