SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to another discussion from the Parkbench, where an artist and an athlete explore a new topic and hope to inspire the community's arts and sports. Because we know they matter and play a huge role in shaping our youth and our community. So get comfortable and join us from the park bench.

SPEAKER_03 0:25

Morning, Ted.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Good morning, Kamala.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:29

I'm good. I'm good. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 0:31

Good. I had the coolest thing happen to me. Have you ever seen the movie Serendipity?

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Oh yeah, yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

I I love that movie too. It's it's it's one of that and then Harry Met Sally are like my two top uh rom-coms. But serendipity, this ser these serendipitous moments that happen where it's like little cues from the universe that tell you keep doing what you're doing. Yeah. You're on the right track. Or stop, pivot, run the other way, right? Either way. So I'm uh I'm biking down a bike path as I normally do, and it was actually a path, um, like a like a paved path. Yeah. Like a bike path.

unknown 1:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

And uh yeah. And then so I'm biking along and I come along this kind of um just open art exhibit. And these artists that are just displaying their work, and most of them were retired age. So they're just sitting there with all these wonderful pieces of art.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

And then this one display, it was a woman in her 70s, and she kind of her art caught my eye. So I stopped and looked, and then so she engaged, and I'm like a fellow artist, blah, blah, blah. But she had some amazing stories. She actually in her early 20s lived in the same village as Salvador Dali.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

What? I how old is he? No, he's not alive anymore.

SPEAKER_03 1:45

No, but well, she was she was in her 20s. He was he was older. So at the time, she was in the same village as him. Right. And he would inspire everyone with his art in the community. That's amazing. Amazing. And then she told me how she's been painting, you know, like all she just paint, you know, and they always show you the work. This I did this because this inspired me, and I did this because this inspired me. And uh, she was like, When in my uh mid-50s, I just became a paralegal because people told me as an artist in her mid-50s? Yes, because people told me as an artist, you're just a one-trick pony. Right. You can only do art. And she's like, I wanted to show them that I'm not just an artist, that I'm smart, because you're always like you you you can just do art, you can't do anything else. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she became a paralegal, and then she's like, Yep, I did it because I I knew I could, and I wanted to prove to myself and to everyone that I could.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

She was not just an artist.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Yeah. And then she went back to painting and just a beautiful woman. And she was talking about just her age, and it's just a number, and she keeps going. And then I bought this little postcard. She called it Love. Yeah. It was a photo of it was a painting of her niece and and her partner, and just just so beautiful. So that's amazing. It is amazing. So to me, it's just like keep doing what we're doing, keep helping the arts, connecting with people, because that ripple effect. Well, what happened when I was standing there? Four of her pieces were sold.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Really?

SPEAKER_03 3:05

Because I was talking to her and people were overhearing, and they'd they would chime into the conversation. And then I'm like, did you know that she was in the same village of Salvador Dali? And then bam, bam, bam. Crazy.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

What what was your commission?

SPEAKER_03 3:18

It's such a sales thing to say. I'm just curious. No, it's like, ah, you are so sales right there. It's just like, and there's the athlete, and here's the artist. Yeah. No, no commission. Just a wonderful connection. We hugged. That was that was my com and and and I did buy one of her paintings because you can't talk to an artist.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

She's a salesperson. She didn't even know who Salvador Dolly is. Yeah, she's good. She is good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

It was it was uh it was a beautiful moment. So I just wanted to. No, that's amazing. Yeah, it was. It was really cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

All right. With us today is uh Matt Greenwood. He is the executive director of Pickering Football. And uh happy to have you here, Matt. How's it going?

SPEAKER_04 4:02

It's going good. It's going good. Thanks very much for for having me on the show. Looking forward to uh seeing where this conversation, this journey will take us, but excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Well, if you have any paintings for sale, Kamala is your gal. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Matt, have have you ever just stumbled upon someone just displaying their art just like that at the it was in a park, actually?

SPEAKER_04 4:21

Yeah, I was in Paris last summer, so lots of artists around, and just amazing how talented people can be. My artwork extends as far as uh stick men. Um not really much more than that, so I have a lot of respect for the talent that artists can have and what they create, um, particularly um particularly on Canvas.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

That's great. So, Matt, tell us a little bit about your organization and the role you have with it today at Pickering Soccer or Pickering Football.

SPEAKER_04 4:50

Um, I am the executive director of Pickering Football Club. I've been here since late uh 2016. Uh, and this was a job that really fell in my lap at the time the club was looking to go in a different direction. They'd never had an executive director before, more of a business manager type role. And so I was approached out of the blue to see whether I'd be interested in taking that position. Prior to that, I'd been almost 10 years with Ontario Soccer. So I knew the Ontario Soccer landscape. Uh, and it was exciting uh as a challenge to get involved in the grassroots club environment, which I'd done a lot of preaching to, a lot of working to, uh working with while I was at Ontario Soccer, but um now actually in the weed, so to speak, at the grassroots level is a really cool environment. So as a as a club, Pickering Football Club has about 3,500 registered members. Uh, in addition to our pickleball program, the athletics track users that we have, uh, basketball, uh, footsal programs, and a lot of volleyball. So there's a lot of other components going on around the Pickering Football Club. Uh, and we're able to do a lot of those additional programs because of the the Pickering Soccer Center. So our year-round full field uh bubble that we uh have opened in partnership with the the city uh and are now slowly getting to a point where we would be the um the operating company uh responsible for all facets of the of the dome.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

That's amazing. And Pickering itself is growing, right? With Seton and the north side, you must be expecting some significant growth at your club over the next number of years.

SPEAKER_04 6:23

Definitely. We've been preparing for the last two or three years with the the efforts we put into our strategic plan, recognizing that the uh yeah, the city of Pickering right now is at around 100,000 population, probably going to grow to 160,000 by the time New Seton is is completed to the north of us. Yeah. So we've done a lot of work up there with some drop-in recreational programs. Last year, we had one of our leagues play a lot of their games up in the one soccer field that exists in that new neighborhood right now. Yeah, um, and we'll continue to grow out. And and the next part to that obviously will be facility-wise and working with the city to make sure that there's enough field provision up there to ensure that we can continue running um programs with a growing club.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Do you think they would build another facility, Matt, in the north side? Like, is there enough demand for another uh dome facility?

SPEAKER_04 7:09

We we really believe there is enough demand. We're trying, we're just looking at the indoor season right now and desperately trying to squeeze in all of our teams wherever we can, and it's it's a challenge. Um, so we we believe that there's a strong demand up there, particularly with you know, people aren't all coming here to play soccer. There's a lot of uh cricket growth as well. So potentially an indoor turf facility in the north of the city that could accommodate two or three, not just soccer, but two or three other sports would would be huge. It's not on the city's radar right now. They do have a uh a recreational facility that I think the shovels will go in the ground this fall, but it's going to be a couple of ice pads, um, swimming pool, uh pickleball courts, of course, yeah, uh, but not an indoor turf or even a turf soccer field right now. So we're we're lobbying them. We have a great relationship with the city, and we keep pushing them down the route of at some point in the future going with us and um creating another dome.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

Well, I um I I'm looking at your kind of your resume, and it is really impressive. And we're gonna be a bit of your cheerleaders today to for for so many things that you have your hand in, and you had an act in building and and evolving and growing the sport and and so many different facets. And we'll get into more of that in a bit, and and about the club, but I want to kind of roll it back a bit and uh look at Matt as a as a youngster. What got you into um into the space and the fact that we are a huge fan of uh Ted Lasso, the show, and you're literally a coach that has come here from England. So let's so how did you get into it? And were you a football coach uh back in the UK?

SPEAKER_04 8:58

Uh I was, it wasn't sort of a classic um sort of journey of you know being a soccer player from a very young age back then in the UK, and I think a lot of people had that kind of childhood as many, many sports. You certainly didn't specialize so as a as a as a kid growing up and then going through high school, then even into even into university. You were playing football, you were playing cricket, you were playing tennis, you were running, you were biking. There were so many different sports that you had an opportunity to do. Um, and that kind of concept of specializing at a young age wasn't a big thing back then. Um, so I had lots of different flavors, lots of different experiences and really cool experiences. Going with my family to watch the Tour de France, um going to Wimbledon to watch some of the rounds of the tennis there for two or three years, um, as well as you know, local professional football games, cricket matches, um, really a bit of everything. Uh, and that passion really evolved. So at the end of high school, I wasn't really sure which direction I wanted to go in. Um so at the very last minute, I I jumped on a degree course at my local university, which was around sports science. Uh back then, sports science was a three-year degree that covered a bit of everything from physiology and kinesiology to nutrition to sociology. These days there are specific sports courses for each of those streams, but back then it was a bit more of a uh a schmogers board, if you like. So it was a great way again to to get a real taste of different components of sport. Uh, and during that time at university, uh, they would run uh coach education courses and you could jump on and get trained in different sports. So I that's where at sort of 18 I really started to specialize in my football coaching uh and got my first coaching badge there. And then shortly after that, after graduating from university, uh took on an opportunity to coach in the US with a fantastic company based out of uh Manassas, Virginia, called Soccer Academy, Inc. Great family-run um company. Uh, and the the programs that they ran were a lot of summer camps, which a lot of British young coaches would do in the summer. They'd come over and swarm the US. Um, and sadly, because of the accent, a lot of people would assume, well, geez, you come from a football nation, you must know a lot about it. Um on the whole, that was true, but there were definitely some guys and girls there that probably shouldn't have come across. The accent was yeah, was the extent of their kind of their football prowess, should we say. Um, but while I was there in the US and I ended up doing a two-year contract uh there, so more sport management as well as coaching with uh with some of the local clubs, I was blown away by the ratio of male to female players, uh, and to a certain extent, coaches, like on the playing side back then, and we're to talk in early 2000s, late 1990s, it was pretty much 50-50. Uh, and when I came back to the UK in 2001, um I could see the disparity at that point. It was still about 85 to 15 percent on the male-female side in England. Um, but at that time, the English Football Association was doing some really cool stuff um with uh development of the game in all facets. Uh, and so I uh got a job working as a community coach, as a sort of a general sport development uh officer in a large high school, and then got recruited to be a girls and women's football development officer um for one county, so for the county of Northamptonshire. And that was sort of kind of the real sort of spurring on of what I wanted to do and where I could see this opportunity in the game growing. Uh, the football association at the time and still now has a heavy amount of funding that comes down from the Premier League and the TV deals that they sign every two or three years. And a lot of that money comes straight down into the grassroots area of the game. At that time, it was really around it was used to grow uh club environments. So putting the right standards in place, um, codes of conduct, uh, background checks on coaches, and really kind of helping real kitchen table football clubs become a little bit more sophisticated. Um, that evolved into identifying that we needed more coaches and then more female coaches, more female teams, more female leagues. And that was where I stood into that, seeing how this could be done in North America. How could we help grow that on the on the other side of the pond? Uh, and during that time, I was in that role for about three years. I evolved to be the development manager for the whole county. So that included facility development for grassroots clubs, um, as well as we introduced a disability development officer. So somebody full-time within that county just focused on going into each of the grassroots clubs and helping them start their own disability football program uh and upscale coaches within the club. So that was going really well. Um, and during that time I decided to get married, uh, and we shifted over to the other side of the pond here. So we uh moved to Ontario to to Whitby Ontario in 2006. Uh, and after a little bit of stumbling around trying to find the the right place to land, I actually had a job interview with the Durham Region Soccer Association, uh, a panel, I think, of six or seven people on the interview panel, which seemed ridiculous at the time. And they they asked me to talk a little bit about myself, which I did similar to this. Yeah. And then they stopped and they said, Oh, we think you might have come for the wrong job. And they'd actually, a job I'd applied for that they'd called me to interview for, they'd actually removed and decided that they weren't going to hire it at that time. But they said, continue talking because you you've got some interesting things to say. So I I chatted a little bit further, um, and they said, you know, you need to speak to somebody at Ontario Soccer or Canada soccer. Um, and from there, uh, I got my foot in the door at Ontario Soccer. My first uh six months, 12 months there was with uh the Ontario Cup. So learning that inside out from start to finish.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

See, there was I just want to say that's there was your serendipitous moment, right? That was the moment, right? You know, where like just just that little thing happened when it was like, wait a minute, you're not here for this, you're here for this. And then and then it shifted. Yeah and you've touched on some things, like knowing what we know already, like from where you are today. You've touched on some things that totally make sense. You brought all that knowledge over here uh across the pond, so to speak, and became like uh grant. You were you're a grant writer, um, make uh um securing millions of dollars into the space, also part of the and and that disability kind of segues into what you're doing here as well with the uh the blind and the parasoccer and and all these awards that you've created. I mean, there's so many things.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Yeah, no, I'm curious, Matt. I I know I've probably asked this before, but but what made you such a champion in that space? Because obviously you have a pretty strong football background, soccer, as I mistakenly say often. Uh but what what made you a champion in the sort of sockability and blind soccer world?

SPEAKER_04 16:13

Uh I you know, I really don't know. I think I think part of it is seeing how we can improve prove anything, but improve the game. Um and I guess part of it is kind of being a builder, being a developer. Um it's something that sort of I scratched my head when I really started to push the disability piece that it wasn't more known uh in Canada. Because as I understood it, when I moved here in 2006, Canada had a pretty good reputation when it came to parasport and the Paralympics. Uh, but we really only had one men's parasoccer team at the time, which still exists um to this day. Uh, but a lot of grassroots clubs just weren't aware of it. Um so it was a a huge opportunity to bring over some really great stuff that's happening, not just in in the UK, but what's happening in South America, what's even happening in the US or Asia or Australia, that yeah, people are doing some really great things. So when a lot of times we're not reinventing the wheel, we're enhancing the system that already exists by introducing those types of programs.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Yeah, it's it's amazing. I know having been in the soccer space myself uh for a number of years, Matt is sort of well known. And Matt, you're such a great guy, people just like you as a person, but the stuff that you do often we talk about you and say, well, talk to Matt, he's involved in that space, and I think you've really done a great job in championing these things, and people do look to you across the country, because within the the kids bar world, we're talking to clubs across the province or the country, and I often ask them, Do you do you know Matt and Pickering Soccer? And they say, Yeah, I do know him. So it's what you're doing is you know, you're feeling the impact across the country.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

Aaron Ross Powell Well, what I see and what I hear is it's truly stemmed from a love and a passion to to help others and and the commitment of sockability to make soccer accessible for all. And and stepping into that space that takes a certain person and an individual, well, not just you. Um I mean, there's obviously people behind the organization, but anyone in that space, when you are on that ambition, it takes a lot of work and consistent grind and not giving up and just pushing through doors and making people talk. And the goal of it is these individuals that can be part of a program and their families that are so appreciative of it and what it opens up for other people. I remember taking a disability the disability act when it came into Canada. I had to be certified when I ran the resort.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

And it opens your your eyes to someone with disability. And what is a disability? Because disabilities sometimes aren't seen, right? When you see someone in a wheelchair, clearly they're disabled. Yeah. But there's a whole spectrum of it. So that it it doesn't so the f it doesn't matter what your disability is, honoring where you are today and what you want to do, and just having people like Matt on this earth that can help people do what they love.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

You know, I'll I'll let Matt respond. But in in when I was at golf soccer, we had it in all abilities program, and it's amazing when you see these young kids that don't have a chance to be in their mind like other kids, get to be on the soccer pitch and kicking the ball. And i it's it's amazing because they all have a, you know, like you say, as you say, a variety of disabilities or differently abled. Uh and there's just the joy on their face, and the parents too, they're so appreciative of the fact that there is something for my child. It's amazing. So sorry, Matt, you can jump in to you on that.

SPEAKER_04 19:43

Yeah, and I think I think that's great. And I think the the word love was mentioned there, and I think that's a big part of it. It's not only being able to do what do what we love in in the industry, um, but sharing that that love with others, you know, like football, soccer, sport in general can be a great, a great tool, as we hear many, many times. But why would we not want to share that with with other people and the the wider community? Yeah. Let others know that this is a fantastic um uh pastime recreational sport to get into. Uh, and then part of part of it for me is the the challenge there. So and and I think that is sort of inherent in any coach is okay, I've I've got a team of players, whether it's a squad of 10 or 20, how do I get the best out of them? Um and that's just the same with uh with an accessible program. I've got a group of 10 or 20 kids that comes. How do I ensure that they go away having fun, having a positive experience, come back next week, feel like they've learned, um, and then that ripple effect to the to the families and the care workers that that see that that happening. So a lot of times when we talk about um disability sport or accessible soccer, um, it's really no different to what we'd see in in other forms of soccer. We're looking at building a pathway for these um players and the coaches to to progress. We're looking to challenge all of them um in their own different ways. And that might be to improve them on the field. It might be their technical ability, it might be their physical well-being, it might be that social piece, um, which is is so, so huge. Uh, a lot of these kids at the end of the day don't get to hang around in the schoolyard with their friends. Yeah, um, either mom or dad pulls up in the minivan or the bus comes and picks them up and and they're gone. Um, so this might be one of the few opportunities during the week where they get to connect and make new friends and kind of burn off some energy. Uh so there's so many positives. And again, you would see a lot of this in any other form of soccer. It might look a little bit different, but the principles are still still the same there and sort of all underpinned again by that love of the sport.

SPEAKER_03 21:41

So it and it's and it's back to community, right? Because you're creating a community and a space, um, whether it's um with blind soccer, socability, or at the Pickering Football Club, it's it's a space, it's it's a container of safety and fun. And and sometimes I think um parents, maybe even sometimes people uh in the sport forget about that. There's this uh there's a show on Netflix called Football, Football Parents, and it kind of makes fun of those soccer moms or or soccer.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

Have you seen that? That show? I haven't no, I haven't heard about it, but I think you get to watch that.

SPEAKER_03 22:19

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's it's basically those parents on the sidelines that um, you know, and and we've all seen them and and we kind of not they're not all, but sometimes I think we all sometimes lose focus about what it's all about. And it is for the love of the game, the sport, the community, the having fun. And are are these some struggles that you find at the club um when when it comes to the sports space?

SPEAKER_04 22:50

Um they are in a and it I I sort of described it as sort of joining the dots, that there are these little little sparks of light across, if we take the province of Ontario, for example, where where programs are happening and there are there are leaders in some of these grassroots clubs that just get it, know that this is important, know that this is really a no-brainer. It's a great program to have, and why wouldn't you have one? And so we're sort of with Soccer Bility Canada, part of our strategy was to start to connect those dots so that people don't feel like they're in isolation if they're in Fergus Allora running a great program and they feel like there's nobody else around them doing something similar. Let's share with them the other local clubs that that have a program that they can connect to. Um, and it's it's really sort of a slow burn, I guess. It it would be lovely to have a whole pile of money come down from a Premier League and say, here you go, you can have training sessions in in every province across the country, you can get out resources to all those clubs, and we can make something happen almost within, I would say overnight, but let's say within 12 to 18 months. We don't have that. So we have to be really strategic about how we promote things to to the clubs and more so to those clubs that that haven't got something happening right now. Um in the past, we might have shamed them a little bit. Hey, the club down the road's got a great program, but you don't have anything. Why wouldn't you get something going? Um and that sort of takes a little bit of a negative slant. So now it's really about celebrating those clubs that that are on board, um, and then try and get that positive vibe so that other clubs realize that it's something cool. So last year we did the first ever um sort of soccerity festival series um in partnership with with Ontario Soccer uh and their uh their summer festival sponsor. Uh and that was just again being strategic, being development-minded, seeing that there was this program out there already from Ontario Soccer, and then just having a couple of conversations with them to say, could we have a an accessibility stream to that? So if they got any spare funding within that pod, and we and we did, and we made it work with um Vaughan Soccer Club, Pickering Football Club, and um I think it was North Toronto. No, sorry, it was New Market Soccer Club last year. Uh and then this year we we grew it. So we included North Toronto Soccer Club in this year's cycle. Um and again, just celebrated that we've got clubs across the country that are running festivals. How about having a disability soccer stream as part of that so that these kids get to experience being part of um the festival that everybody else gets to partake in? And hopefully that will that will grow, that will evolve. And um as we were saying before, these kids just want to play, they just want to experience the sport, they want to wear a uniform and look like some of the kids, but then that evolves to at some point that's great every week coming and seeing my same friends, but other clubs play other clubs. Could we do that?

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 25:46

And that's where we're at now, which is really exciting. That sort of that evolution to now we're gonna go into a festival with a couple of other clubs with different uniforms on.

SPEAKER_03 25:55

You're so neighborly. You're neighborly, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Yeah, but but as as kids too, like when you're when you see what Matt saying, other kids play, they go to other, they play other clubs, they go to other cities. And that's as you say, the natural evolution of this program is to to be more like all the other kids, and you also get to go play in another city, which is very, I'm sure, cool for them. But uh so I mean that's amazing, Matt. I think the work there is is tremendous and uh uh you know, just the impact that you're having on kids and families and that whole program is you know, you can't say enough good about it. What about like uh at the club otherwise? I mean, obviously there's a lot of members, you said 3,500 members at the club. What um for maybe tell us a bit more about coaches or programs you're running or any other club stories you want to share that kind of talk about the the membership in general at Pickering Coach.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

And female coaches too, because you you mentioned that that kind of imbalance of female to male coaches. Do you are you finding that at the club?

SPEAKER_04 26:51

Yeah, I think uh uh one of the things that as a club you've got to be really cognizant of is uh, you know, we describe ourselves as a community club, as a grassroots club, but are we are we really? And I think Pick Green FC is is really a community club. We really do represent the community, and I'm really proud of that. Um, but I think sometimes we put that out there as uh, hey, we're we're the club of your local community, but are we are we proactively going after those members of our community that that we don't see on the field? Yeah, um so you know, is diversity truly there? Uh and I think Pikmin FC is there. We can always do better. Um and we tried to do something, unfortunately, we had a really cool project plan right before the pandemic. Um, and asked with a lot of things with the pandemic, that got flattened. Yeah. Um, but we had a real strategy there to we work out, reach out to some of the parts of the community that we we weren't seeing at the at the soccer field. So amongst our 3,500 members, we you know, we really go from the the the U3 Timbits up to I'm gonna say 83 off the top of my head with our walking soccer program. Um we're one of the few in the the country right now. I'd probably say there's maybe about 10 walking soccer teams across the country at this stage. Um, and we have about 20 to 30 male and female players that come in. And this this started before the pandemic. It was part of a seniors program that we were running. Uh, and one of the legacies was this walking soccer program that continues to this day.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

What's walking soccer? I I'm I I don't know that term.

SPEAKER_04 28:22

Yeah, so walking soccer um if it was introduced, I think it was in in England, in the UK, um, really to uh encourage people that were no longer mobile enough to be running full speed around the field to literally walk. So if you break into a jog uh and it looks like both feet are off the ground, the referee is going to call it back for an indirect free kick.

SPEAKER_03 28:44

Oh, that's awesome. That's so cool. So it literally is like a walking soccer.

SPEAKER_04 28:50

Yes, yes. So it's it's great. A lot of our players are are seniors, but we also from time to time have somebody that might be coming back from from surgery, from an ACL or something like that that just wants to get on the field and get moving. Um and they can come and play. It's it's challenging, it messes with your head a little bit because if you're if you have the ball and you want to play it to a teammate, typically you'd be looking to play the ball in front of them to for them to run onto. Um, but you can't. You need to think that how quickly are they going to be able to walk to that point. Yeah. Well, that's that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 29:21

With someone with no soccer skills, that's up my alley because I I don't have to figure out the math or or the uh or them running to it. That's so cool. That talk about open for everyone. I mean, literally anyone could do that.

SPEAKER_04 29:35

Definitely. Well, and I I love it that we have three or four of our couples. I'm gonna say they're seniors, they're probably north of of 70. But are husband and wives that that come along here. One of them actually is a fantastic baker um that will regularly bring in some fresh scones for us, which is always dangerous. Um, but yeah, again, that kind of sense of community, getting them out of the house, particularly in the winter months when it can be dark and cold, seeing them get out of their cars and and come in for a kick around for an hour or two is It is very satisfying.

SPEAKER_03 30:01

I want to move to Pickering so I can be closer to the club. Yeah, yeah. That's true. That's what's so great about you, Matt, is that that's the thing is that you're not just at Pickering thinking about your club. You're thinking about everyone, everywhere, just growing the sport. And that's that's what makes you a wonderful person and a true pioneer in the space, is because you're not just thinking about your own club, you're thinking about everybody, and you're like, hey, do you play soccer? Why like you literally could walk up to someone on the street and say, Do you play soccer? No, well, you should. There's no reason not to. Every single person has a way to enter a like soccer, right?

unknown 30:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:41

That's it. Yep, we got a format for everybody.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

Yeah, a format for everybody. I I love that. So we we ask our guests, we always say, you know, in the foyer of life, if you had to choose a door, sports, or arts, which would you choose? But you kind of answer that off the top with your stickman comment. So I'm guessing you would choose the athlete door. Uh yes. Yes, I would. But you have an app but you have an appreciation for the arts, which is which is great.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

But Matt, do you have like a guitar in the closet that you're not telling us about it or something?

SPEAKER_03 31:13

Yeah, art isn't always drawing. That's true.

SPEAKER_04 31:16

Do you know what? I I do have a guitar that I bought about 15 years ago. I managed to teach myself one song which was um YouTube, with or without you. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 31:25

I love it.

SPEAKER_04 31:26

I saw myself the song via YouTube videos. I played it once for my wife, and that was it. That was the guitar for me.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

I did it, I'm done. Just like the Rs and the Paralegal, right? I know I could do it. I I did it, done, and complete.

SPEAKER_04 31:41

That's funny. Definitely.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

So you do have a bit of an art uh artist in there.

SPEAKER_04 31:46

Yeah, and I as a kid, I I I was in the the school choir and the church choir and the piano. So definitely musical kind of art. I I certainly have an appreciation for that.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:56

Um, but it was it was funny. I was kind of thinking about this, and it's I guess it's kind of that creator kind of vibe, right? It's yeah, I it's it's creating those those kind of programs, whether they're sport, but then beyond that, kind of the the system development, um, what those pathways look like. And particularly in the the accessible field, there's a lot of um and disability sport field, there's a lot of crossover with that, with that art piece, um, and engaging the participants in that creative role. So at the end of our Audibilities program, at the end of each season, they just have a huge party in our event room with a whole bunch of glitter paint and crayons and and then they just go to town. They do that all week. It's the only program that does. Um, but there's definitely that crossover with the with the creative brain.

SPEAKER_03 32:42

Oh, 100%. When you're building anything, uh a program, um, a club, uh, a community, an organization, you need to be creative. You need to think, oh, how are we gonna get through this? How are we gonna maneuver around this obstacle? And there is a sense of of creativity for sure, which you obviously have because everything that you've done is has just been amazing. And if you were to go back um and give yourself advice as a young kid.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

We're talking like Maddie, when you talk to Maddie.

SPEAKER_03 33:11

Maddie, yeah, yeah. What were you what did your mom call you? Was it Matt?

SPEAKER_04 33:16

Um, Matt or Matthew, if I was in trouble.

SPEAKER_03 33:18

Matthew, that's true. Matthew, of course. So if you were to go back and give yourself advice, what would it be?

SPEAKER_04 33:26

Um, I think it would be move to move quicker on ideas, not not dwell on them, not wait for somebody else to to step up or play their part. Um but uh to be more proactive and drive forward. And really that's kind of where the uh the nub of of Socability Canada comes from. Um it's from many years of uh me talking to people, trying little things, joining sessions, learning stuff online, uh, and hearing from people that you know this is this is great. We love it, we'd love to do something in the future. And it just would go on and gone. And I probably lost a decade of waiting for that future to it got to the point where I said, you know what, this needs to start and needs to happen now. And if I'm the guy to do it, then okay. Um, and now we'll start to draw people in and people are getting interested in it. And it's great now that Canada Soccer on board, that we have a formal partnership with them to be their go-to organization when it comes to a club. If a club reaches out to Canada Soccer and wants to start a program, they'll signpost them to Soccer Busity Canada, and then we can jump in and and help. Uh so yeah, I would say don't don't delay on that. There's you know, they always say it about getting pregnant, right? There's never a right time. So just get it done.

SPEAKER_03 34:45

Just get it done. And that is not j, I mean, that's just success and and passion for what you have. Like if somebody says, okay, we'll we'll do it, and then time goes by, you're like, okay, I'm following up on that. You said we're gonna do it, let's do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

And there's always fear baked in. There's fear baked in. It's funny, I think in the previous episode I said for my son who just graduated from high school, and a card I wrote to him, I said, you gotta take chances in life. Like, don't be afraid to take chances because that's probably what holds you back. You don't want to be the fool or you don't want to make a mistake and the lesson. And I I agree with Matt. As you get older, you thought, I should have just moved faster almost like that.

SPEAKER_03 35:18

Fear and risk. And and so many of our guests has have said that. And and it's like take that risk, take that shot. Yeah I it's the unknown is scary and and change is scary, but it's it's that comp like everybody seems to say it. It's just go for it, don't wait, just do it.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nike Nike.

SPEAKER_03 35:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

So as we wrap up, Matt, just uh curious, where is the organization headed? Any uh any new exciting initiatives on top of what you're already doing? Anything in the near future you're looking at?

SPEAKER_04 35:47

Um from the club perspective here at uh Pickering Football Club, we've just hired our our fifth um director of football operations, Coach Frankie Mohammed, who's uh a real ball of energy, real positive, upbeat, dynamic guy. And I'm really excited to see how he's gonna drive our programs forward. He's only been in the job two weeks, so we're trying to tread carefully so we don't bury him with all of the bureaucracy that's uh and the standards that are in place um in grassroots soccer. Um, so we're working with him to get that up to speed. And uh we have a fantastic um director of operations in Elizabeth McCor that's overseeing that side of the business. So we've got a fantastic staff in place um and a really supportive board. So excited to see what we can do in the next couple of months as we really ramp up and get indoors uh and then see what 2026 looks like. Uh, and then from the the soccer ability Canada side of things, uh, we're looking at um obviously FIFA 2026 and some opportunities to do some activation around uh that uh and raise more awareness to uh the wider football community around disability soccer. Uh we'll have some more workshops coming out across the country so we can start to get into more uh grassroots programs. Uh, and the biggest thing ready to slap me in the face right now is our women's blind soccer team uh trip to India uh in three weeks' time.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

So exciting.

SPEAKER_04 37:10

This will be huge. Um, there's a ton of moving parts in the background that this will be my first experience of taking a team internationally to compete. I've hosted and run international competitions here and know how much hard work that can be. This seems to be next level. Um, but we will compete, and this will be the second ever women's blind soccer championship. So we'll be there with eight other countries to compete, get ourselves a world ranking, and and really see where we are on the on the on the world stage. Um, but really excited for the the players. They've been working very hard on this, they're taking this really seriously. And again, this is just really this is the next step in that system develop. What can this look like um in future years and how can this grow for the female side of the game and and the men's side as well?

SPEAKER_03 37:57

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, good luck with that. We can't wait to hear when you get back. Yeah, regardless of the win. I mean, I I'm I'm not competitive, but but like just the experience. I mean, obviously you're going there to win, but regardless of of the win, it's going to be it's going to be amazing for for you and for those female athletes. So cool. Well, thank you. Yeah, thank you, Matt. It's so you're so impressive. Just everything you do, and I think um sharing what you do is is inspirational to others in the space. And if we could clone you, we would. You should be cloned. There are people on this on this uh earth that need to be cloned, and and you're one of them. Um Matt, you are so welcome. It's true, it's true. You've done so much, and um, you're a pioneer in the space and a trailblazer, and it's it's amazing. And and the the the lives that you've improved and affected. I'm sure everyone is so grateful at the club to have you. But um, but yeah, it was so great having you on. And Matt, producer Matt, anything to to add? Do you have are do you have soccer, uh, and any soccer experience?

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Uh yeah, I played soccer as a kid for sure. Yeah, it was so much fun. I loved it. And uh yeah, just to echo what you were saying too, we've talked a lot on this podcast about how much sports can benefit people. And so your work to you know bring soccer to more and more people, you know, the ripple effect that must have on the community is almost hard to wrap your head around. Like it's so amazing.

SPEAKER_04 39:24

True, true. And it's it's funny, you don't always think about the ripple effect. My my initial kind of focus is on getting the club up to speed and get them to buy in. Yeah, almost kind of drop the bomb and then run. Um, but yeah, it's important to reflect on yeah, what that ripple effect results in and how many more families are are engaged in the sport and active.

SPEAKER_03 39:43

It's so true to always take a pause and just look around and be grateful and pat yourself on the back sometimes, or or just hopefully you have uh a support group around you that can that are your cheerleaders and say, you know what, you're pretty awesome. I mean, and and you are, and we're grateful to have you on and grateful to have you in the space.

SPEAKER_04 40:01

Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's been great.

SPEAKER_03 40:03

Yeah, thanks, Matt. Thank you, and and thank you, Ted, as always. And thank you, everybody, for listening. And please um send us your comments, what what you what you think of the episode, anything you want to ask Matt, you can um go to uh sockability. What what is the uh website for Sockability Canada?

SPEAKER_04 40:22

The website's just sockability.ca, so S-O-C-C-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y.ca.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

And then for the Pickering Football Club?

SPEAKER_04 40:33

Is pickering F C dot C A.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

Awesome. So head over there and and you can read up more on Matt and everything that that he's up to and the club's up to. And uh and head to from the parkbench.ca, leave us a message, uh, let us know what you think of the episode and and what you think of Ted and I just bantering or uh bantering on with our guests.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 40:55

You want to hear the good and the bad?

SPEAKER_01 40:56

Yes, mostly mostly the good, but we'll take those.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

And we're always learning and improving, Ted. We want to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 41:04

That's the way that we learn. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:06

Well, thank you both, and uh, we look forward to chatting soon from the park bench.