Each team will have two pre-season games to get to know your teammates and shake off the rust.  See the schedule below for timeslots.

We hope to have the uniforms delivered in time for the first pre-season game, but in case we don’t each team is assigned a jersey colour as per the column headings.  Please be mindful of the dark/white requirement and don’t wear any in-between colours.  Light gray, yellow, striped shirts such as blue/white are all potentially confusing.  I’m sure all of us have either white or dark in our wardrobes.

Date	Time	Home	Away
4-Oct	6:00 PM	Emeralds	Direwolves
		Nightmares	Lightning
	7:00 PM	Vaders	Red Bulls
11-Oct	6:00 PM	Vaders	Emeralds
		Nightmares	Red Bulls
	7:00 PM	Lightning	Direwolves

We recently asked you if you intend on returning next season.  The results are in:

• Yes – 44
• Maybe – 20
• No – 2

There have been some growing pains this year as we moved to a new facility with larger fields and we had a lot of new players join the league.  Here are some questions that you might have.

How many teams will there be?

There could be anywhere from 4 to 7 teams.  Our aim is to have 11 players per team including goalkeepers.  Each team needs enough players to field a full team every week, but not so many players that they have 5 subs each week.  We settled on 11 players because on average, 9 show up every week.  This gives us the middle ground we’re aiming for.  The 44 confirmed gives us 4 teams as of today.

Is it expensive to run the league?

Yes.  Yes it is.  Cost will play a big factor in league size.  If we continue to receive financial support from the company, we’ll just break even in a 6 team league.  A 4 team league would give us a little more breathing room.  If we went with an odd number like 5, costs would decrease considerably and that would in turn enable us to decrease the $350 registration fee.

What can I do to help the league?

Make the effort to recruit players within the company.  If you’re one of the “maybes”, the sooner you decide the easier it’ll be to plan.  If we drop to 4 or 5 teams, we’ll no longer need the third field.  It’s easy to give it away but hard to get it back if we grow the year after next.  It’s important that everyone understands that.

Equally as important is to not lose sight of what a good thing we have going.  We get to play soccer in a competitive but not fierce environment.  We get to see each other every week.  We get to meet new people we’d never have met otherwise.  Running the league takes a lot of work and the captains give of themselves to organize their teams.  It doesn’t happen by itself.

We’re all members of the league first and members of our teams second.  It’s very hard to balance teams, attendance can really throw things off.  Also, some players have a massive impact on their teams and they shift the balance considerably.  One thing though, that makes balancing much easier is the ability to freely move players from one team to another.  Next season, there will be no option to say no to a trade.  We want everyone back next year, but if changing teams against your wishes is something that you just can’t live with, then this isn’t the league for you.  The needs of the entire league outweigh the needs of a single player and I hope everyone can understand that.

Thanks to everyone for making this league so enjoyable.  Now go get us some more players!

Having four goalkeepers for six teams is a problem.  Teams without goalkeepers need to arrange loans every week, but it’s not always possible.  This almost assuredly means they will lose.  How do we minimize this problem?

Goalkeepers will now be shared by all six teams using a random schedule.  This means they are no longer assigned to specific teams.  Thank you to all four of our goalkeepers for agreeing to this, Brad Hughes, Kevin Bonner, Mutlu Kayhan and Murat Cokgezen.

 

The teams have been set for the 2016/17 season!  You can search through rosters to find your team.  There will be 2 weeks of friendly matches and then the season officially kicks off on October 26th.

October 12th – Friendly Week #1

• 6 pm – Spartans vs Barons
• 6 pm – Football Clubber Lang vs Renegades
• 7 pm – Cobra Kai vs D-Mentors

October 19th – Friendly Week #2

• 6 pm – Football Clubber Lang vs Cobra Kai
• 6 pm – Barons vs D-Mentors
• 7 pm – Renegades vs Spartans

The third season of the Teachers’ Champions League is fast approaching.  As you’ll have noticed, the name has to changed from Toronto to Teachers’ which reflects our transition into the Teachers’ Events Community.  Thank you to Lise Matthews and OTPP for their support.

This season, 6 teams will be competing for glory.  The games will be played on Wednesdays at the Hangar in Downsview Park, which has slightly larger fields than Soccerplex.  It’ll be 7 vs 7 and with more open space, the game will be considerably different from prior years.  The website has been updated with the team names and the season schedule.

The teams will be formed with the goal of achieving balance across the league.  The first week of pre-season (Oct 5) will be a casual week to get the rust out.  After the first week, the captains will get together to form teams.  The next 2 weeks (Oct 12, 19) will be pre-season friendlies with set teams.  The first game of the regular season will be on Oct 26.  There will be 21 regular season games with one off week during the March break.

All 6 teams will make the playoffs.  The quarter-finals will be a single leg elimination and the matchups will be 1 v 6, 2 v 5 and 3 v4.  There will be a lucky loser to make up the 4th team for the semi-finals.  Come playoff time, we’ll have more details on how the lucky loser will be determined.

Please remember, no outdoor cleats are permitted and shin guards are required at all times.  The referee can prevent you from playing if you’re not in the proper attire.

In 2016/17, the OTPP Champions League is moving to a new home.  The Hangar at Downsview Park will host this collection of superstars!  Some of the top reasons we’re moving include:

1. Higher quality facility – fields, ventilation, change rooms
2. More convenient location – 15 minute drive, 45 minute TTC ride from the office
3. All game are from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesdays
4. More room for league growth

One big change from last year is that we’re limiting the number of players per team.  This will ensure that everyone gets enough playing time.  The fields at the Hangar are larger and can accommodate 7 a side, which is 6 players plus the goalkeeper.  We’re limiting teams to 10 players which means that at most, there will be 3 subs per game.  We’ll also take into account attendance history when we set the teams.  This will help ensure that we don’t have teams who are always full while at the same time have teams who are often short players.

To guarantee your spot, send your $100 deposit to Ivan Gojmerac.  It’s fully refundable, in case something in your life changes and you can no longer play.  To make a deposit, please contact Ivan directly.

We’re looking for people to write game previews and reports.  You’ll have noticed that we’re pretty casual so you can write in your own style and can inject your own sense of humour into the stories.  Accuracy is good but creative license is granted.  If you wish, your identity can remain a secret.

Contact either Dave or myself if interested.

Nasim Zoubeiri has played his last game in the Toronto Champions League.  At the end of this month he’ll be leaving Canada for his new home in Australia.

Nasim has been part of our soccer crew for 3 years having joined back in the days of pick-up.  He was a great teammate and a tough opponent.  He only needed one step to beat you and before you knew it, the ball was in the back of the net.  He made the league a better one both for his quality and his positive attitude.

Nasim, on behalf of all your friends in the Toronto Champions League, we wish you all the best in life!

 

It looks like the Calaveras FC comeback will fall short and either Real Deal, Bayern Munich, or The Gunners will take home the Toronto Champions League regular season title. But that’s not what we’ve all been playing for. This season has been building towards April. Playoff time.

The playoffs will be a mini bracket: 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 with a few small format changes. Semi finals will be played over two weeks, with each team playing a home game and an away game (the higher seeded team plays the home leg second). The winner on aggregate score advancing to the finals. In the event of a tie, the team with the most away goals advances. If the teams are tied in away goals then there will be a best of three penalty shootout. If tied after three rounds, the teams will play single round eleimination penalty kicks. If you’re confused, here are a few scenarios below. These scenarios are for a Real Deal vs Calaveras FC matchup. Because Calaveras finished below Real Deal, Calaveras would be the home team week one.

1. Calaveras wins the first week 2-1, Real Deal wins the second week 2-0. The aggregate score is 3-2 in favour of Real Deal so they advance.
2. Calaveras wins the first week 2-1. Real Deal wins the second week 3-2. The aggregate score is tied 3-3. On tie breaker, Real Deal scored one away goal (week 1) and Calaveras scored two away goals (week 2). Calaveras advances.
3. Calaveras wins the first week 2-1. Real Deal wins the second week 2-1. The aggregate score is tied 3-3, and both teams have scored one away goal. The winner on penalty kicks advances (best of three, single-round elimination if tied after three)
4. The first week is tied 1-1. The second week is tied 2-2. The aggregate score is tied 3-3. On tie breaker, Real Deal scored one away goal (week 1) and Calaveras scored two away goals (week 2). Calaveras advances.

The losers of the semi-finals will play each other in a consolation, third place match while the winners advance to a single game championship. Both the championship game and the second semi-final game will end five minutes early to allow time for penalty kicks.

Playoffs kick off April 16!