Bryst Staff Coach, Steve Payne, has now been hired as the part-time Technical Director for the Bryst Football Academy teams program. Steve will oversee the development of players and coaches within the BFA system. He will work closely with staff on the assessment of players and their movement within the system, as well as their eventual placement at US or Canadian universities or professional club trials. Steve will also assess the BFA Staff on their training programs as they relate to the CSA LTPD program.

Steve has been a Staff Coach with Bryst since 2005, working with Top Dogs players, BFA teams and taking a BFA boys' team to Brazil in 2007. Steve has completed his Canadian B License, Brazilian A License, UEFA A License and his UEFA Pro License. He has worked as a Provincial Team coach, Ottawa Fury Head Coach and the Technical Director for Tasmania Football in Australia. Steve is presently the part-time Technical Director for Huronia District and a coaching course instructor for the OSA.

The Bryst family look forward to Steve's valuable input to our BFA program.

Two U.S. University coaches have confirmed their attendance for the first week of Bryst Summer Camp at Centennial Park in Etobicoke. The July 9-13 camp will see the U.S. coaches train and assess Top Dogs players during the day and BFA players in the evening.

Jonathan Thayil, Head Womens and Mens Coach at Shepherd University in West Virginia, has been the Womens Coach for one year and Mens Coach for 5 years. Thayil was the Head Womens Coach at Hartwick College, NY, for four years prior. Thayil holds his U.S. B License, NSCAA Advanced National Diploma and his UEFA B License.

David Blokhart (in photo), Head Mens Coach at Indiana Tech University, started in this position last year. Prior to this position, he was Head Coach at St. Josephs University for 6 years. Blokhart holds his NSCAA Premier Coaching Diploma.

This is the fourth year that Bryst has brought in U.S. University coaches and this has helped expand the University network for Bryst players. Several Bryst players have been placed on scholarship after these scouting opportunities.

Bryst President, Gary Miller, has been assessing Canadian and American coaches for the Irish Football Association since 2006. The Irish FA offer UEFA A and B license courses to coaches from all parts of the world and several North American coaches have taken advantage of that opportunity. These courses take part in Belfast, Northern Ireland, every spring. Gary assesses the coaches before they travel to Belfast for their final assessment.

Since 2006, Gary has assessed the following coaches for the Irish FA:

Steve Payne (Bryst Staff) - UEFA A - 2006, UEFA Pro - 2008

Marc Dos Santos (Montreal Impact) - UEFA B - 2007

Dmitri Ovchnnikov (Bryst Staff) - UEFA B - 2007, UEFA A - 2008

Pat Raimondo (University of Montreal) - UEFA A - 2008

Bejan Azizzi  (Ryerson University) - UEFA A - 2008

Sam Medeiros (Bryst Staff) - UEFA A - 2008

Chris Roth (Ottawa Fury) - UEFA A - 2008

Joe Defazio (Bryst Staff) - UEFA A - 2008

Victor Satei (Power Academy) - UEFA A - 2008

Hugh Dooley (Saskatchewan Soccer) - UEFA A - 2009

Dwayne Ferguson (Saskatchewan Soccer) - UEFA A - 2009

Jason Allen (Power Academy) - UEFA A - 2010

Ian McClurg (1v1 Academy) - UEFA A - 2010

Mustapha Sahir (Montreal) - UEFA A - 2010

Vladimir Samozvanov (Vancouver) - UEFA A - 2010

Jason Devos (Oakville SC) - UEFA A - 2012

Stefano Franciosa (Boston, MA) - UEFA A - 2012

Congratulations to all of these coaches for continuing their ongoing professional development outside of their Canadian and American coaching licenses.

BFA U10 team coach, Tony D'Amato, attended a recent Coerver Coaching Course in Toronto. The course was conducted by former Chelsea and Scottish International player, Charlie Cooke. The course focused on individual skill development for young players. Over 40 Ontario coaches attended the course.

Coerver Coaching is a well known Dutch oriented training program for young players in the development of their individual ball skills and moves. Many countries around the world use this program for the development of their young players.

Bryst continue to have their coaching staff develop through continual professional development that will allow them to train young players at the highest level. Bryst has the most highly qualified coaching staff in the province.

Bryst President, Gary Miller, was one of the major presenters at the recent OSA 2012 Conference in Toronto. Over 300 representatvies from Academies, Clubs, Districts and the OSA, attended this weekend event. The Conference was dedicated to the Long Term Player Development plans that are being put in place over the next 8 years across the province.

The focus on the Friday night was the LTPD and the future Competitive Structure for player development. Alex Chiet, OSA Chief Technical Officer, and Jason Devos, Oakville SC Technical Director also presented.  As a member of the OSA Technical Advisory Council, Gary focused on the research that has been done on other organizations to create a standards-based organization structure for the future. The majority of ideas for the future of player development in Ontario has been taken from SAAC. Everything from length of season, coaching standards, training to game ratio, Saturday games, etc.

On the Saturday afternoon, Gary presented the proposed Annual Plan for the Ontario Player Development League and the plan for the Regional and Provincial Team programs. Pictures and a video can be seen from the OSA below:

http://www.ontariosoccer.ca/OSABlog/index.php/competitions-events/osa-soccer-conference-agm

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BFA U21 player, Jon Sarjeant, has just signed with Western University in London, Ontario. Jon has received an Athletic Financial Award for his athletic and academic abilities. Jon will attend training camp with Western on August 15.

Jon has been a member of the BFA for the last four years. He has travelled extensively through the US with BFA to Showcase Tournaments and competed for BFA in Barcelona, Spain in 2010. Congratulations to Jon from the Bryst staff.

The BFA Senior Girls team competed this past weekend in the NSCAA - Great Lakes Showcase Tournament in Geneva, Ohio. The team travelled down to the US on Friday and returned Sunday, playing against US club teams from West Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania.

The tournament was being scouted by US University coaches from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Congratulations to the girls for their excellent performances against tough competition. This team will compete in the OWSL U21 Regional division in 2012.

Shane Viragh, a midfielder with the U21 Provincial League team, has just signed with Belmont Abbey College, North Carolina. Belmont Abbey is an NCAA Division 2 school that competes in the Carolina's Conference. Last year, Belmont Abbey finished with a 6-11-1 record.

Shane has been a member of the BFA for the last four years, travelling into Toronto four times a week for training and games from Collingwood. Congratulations to Shane from the Bryst staff for his tremendous commitment and drive to pursue his future career.

http://abbeyathletics.com/sport.asp?sportID=13