Some GSSC (Greater Sudbury Soccer Club) Impact teams require a little time to get their feet under them as they venture out beyond the comfort of northern Ontario and decide to really test themselves, battling squads from the GTA, that area of the province where a budding soccer player can be found in every third household.

The GSSC U13 Impact boys are not that team.

Under the guidance of head coach Moises Santos, the first year TOSL (Toronto Soccer League) entry are currently occupying first place (in a 14-team bracket) with a record of 7-2-0, though Santos quickly acknowledges that EY (Etobicoke Youth) Atletico are likely to overtake them, before season’s end with their unblemished mark of 6-0-0 to date.

A top three finish would fit the bill nicely, according to Santos.

“Overall, it has been a great season and the team has improved significantly since the beginning until now,” he noted recently. “Our strength is the solidarity of our players and dedication on the field. Our team leaves it all on the field and they have adapted well to playing more defensively - especially in the last month.”

“Players at this age are always anxious and very motivated to play forward and score goals,” Santos added. “To learn how to be defensive, as a team, and build up patiently is difficult - but they are doing great.”

Not that the Impact lads who recently advanced to the TOSL Cup semi-finals with a 7-0 win over Wexford are without punch on the attack. Angelo Kalonji sits in a grouping of four players tied for second in league scoring with nine goals, with the Sudbury squad one of the best in the league at distributing the charge to the net between the multiple weapons at the disposal of coach Santos.

It’s simply that an effort to protect their end of the pitch was essential as they met up with entries from larger and larger centres.

“We identified at the start of the season that we did not quite have the skill to play open against teams like North York, East York, West Toronto,” said Santos. “Since then, we focused more on defending, which has elevated the overall team play.”

With post-secondary athletes now in the process of gathering for training camps and tryouts right across the province, the older of the youth soccer leagues have obviously closed up shop for the summer.

After enduring a very tough stint in 2022 (far too many cancelled games, far too big a gap in talent from top to bottom of the league), the GSSC U21 Impact women recalibrated nicely within the OWSL (Ontario Women’s Soccer League) this year, allowing coach Connor Vande Weghe and his very intriguing lineup a wonderful opportunity to move forward with their development.

There’s was an intriguing lineup from the standpoint that Vande Weghe was making the jump to women’s play with a core group of young prospects who had participated in a 17U division 12 months earlier and blending that in with the largely first and second year local athletes who dot the rosters at both Cambrian and Laurentian - with a handful of key out-of-towners staying here for good measure.

All in all, it was a chance for the former OUA all-star turned coach (and more recently named as Sporting Director with the Sudbury Cyclones) to help bring about a level of soccer that is notably more mature than the youth game.

“I was most happy with the possession base that we established with this team,” noted Vande Weghe, his squad posting a very healthy league mark of 9-3-2, placing third in the eight team loop. “At the beginning of the season, we put an emphasis on controlling the games by controlling more of the ball.”

That, in turn, required his influx of talented but relatively inexperienced (at this level) teenagers to incorporate concepts that are rudimentary to more elite soccer. “The spacing of play and spacing of players on the field is a little bit different here,” said Vande Weghe. “I felt that by the last few weeks of the season, we saw a better understanding of how a team functions better together with the ball by using the space better.”

“For instance, Caitlyn Kervin was fantastic in using the wide areas to create space for herself to dribble and take players on.” While Vande Weghe acknowledged that the concept applies right across the pitch, he was particularly pleased with the progress made by midfielders Brooke Dugas, Sophia Oommen, Alyssa Eid and Aidyn Franklin, their work focused largely in one of the most congested parts of the field.

“I am so excited to see so many of these players push into OUA and OCAA play,” beamed Vande Weghe. “It’s a credit to their dedication and willingness to always train hard and listen.”

In the end, Evan Phillips is one of those coaches who will most benefit from the efforts of Vande Weghe and company.

Returning for another season as head coach of the Cambrian Golden Shield women’s soccer team, the former OCAA all-star is looking to build on a campaign that saw his team both qualify for postseason play and perform quite well, once there.

“We are extremely excited for the future of Cambrian College soccer,” exclaimed Phillips, his crew returning from a 1-1 draw in pre-season play versus the Redeemer Royals.

“About half the team have been around the program for two or three years and we are bringing in nine new recruits with a great deal of passion for the program. This is one of the largest freshman classes we have had in some time. They are very raw but extremely talented and that brings along some excitement.”

It also brings some nuances to the manner in which Phillips and company are approaching the task at hand of guiding this group through what is an extremely abbreviated fall season.

“With a big new group coming in, we have to break things down a little more than usual,” said Phillips. “At the same time, we want to ensure that our senior players are not straying away from our core ideals that made us successful. This is what makes college football (soccer) so much fun.”

“The change is constant, to a certain extent.”

As for the encounter with Redeemer, local product Grace Cranston picked right up where she left off in 2022, drilling home the equalizer in the second half of the road affair. While the Cambrian veterans were doing their thing, Phillips also commended the efforts of a trio of newcomers.

“Makayla Bertrand and Gillian Spraggette helped to hold Redeemer’s attack at bay while first year midfielder Jamie Hopkins helped lock down the centre mid area along with our senior players.”

The Golden Shield soccer tandem will open play on the road on September 9th/10th, facing St Lawrence and Algonquin before heading home the following weekend to do battle with both the Centennial Colts and the Algonquin Wolves.