Fort Erie adds men’s OSL squad
The Greater Fort Erie Youth Soccer Club is stepping up its game.
Beginning this season, the club will field a men’s team in the Ontario Soccer League.
“We have two other men’s teams in the Peninsula Soccer League and three over-35 squads and now we have an OSL team,” said Matt Gill, the club’s technical director and the head coach of the OSL team.
Gill, who is also an assistant coach with the Brock men’s team, took over the Premier men’s team two seasons ago.
“We had a plan to take it as far as we could and the first year we did really well.”
The team finished second in the division which was the highest finish for the squad in a long time. In 2023, the team took another step, winning the league, winning the league cup, making the playoff final where it lost on penalty kicks, and reaching the quarter-finals of Ontario Cup action.
“This year, we wanted to step up a little bit more so we decided to join the OSL,” Gill said. “There will be more travel and the competition is a lot tougher.”
The OSL is divided into five divisions and Fort Erie will slot into the third division, playing in the Regional West Division against squads from North York, Guelph, Burlington, Bradford, Clarkson and Toronto. There are 11 teams in the division.
“We have an opportunity to get promoted in each one and move up to the Provincial Elite level. If we do that, there’s is a potential opportunity to go to League1 but with that comes a franchise licence and so on and so forth. It is a little bit more complicated but ultimately the club wants to go from strength to strength and we are looking to create a pathway and an alternative to other things that are in the region right now,” Gill said. “No one else has an OSL club and it is somewhere else where someone can play at a good standard.”
Goals are high for the first season.
“It was a real eye opener going into the Ontario Cup last year because you play different levels from the OSL and Provincial Elite. We eventually got knocked out by a Provincial Elite team which ended up finishing second,” he said. “With the turnover of players we had, I think we will be competitive and I think we will be in and around the top. We would like to push for top three, try to get promotion and kick up from there. I want to be respectful of the teams that are in the division but with the quality that we’ve got, we can do really well and go far this year.”
Tryouts were held in the spring and the team has already started its preseason. So far, the team lost 2-1 to a League1 team and beat an OSL squad 6-0. The team played another game Friday night and plans to compete in a few more games to prepare for the season which opens on the May long weekend.
About half of Gill’s team from last year is part of the OSL squad.
“I like to create a platform for players who want to play at a higher level so our turnaround year on year is about 50 per cent.”
There was a lot of interest in trying out for the team and the squad is made up not players from across Niagara, Oakville and Hamilton, including college and university athletes.
Home games will be played Friday at 9 p.m. at Optimist Park in Fort Erie and admission is free. Gill is expecting a good response considering last year’s three Ontario Cup home games each drew in excess of 300 fans.
“It was massive and this year we are looking to do the same thing. We are in the Ontario Cup again and we are looking to create more awareness for the club and let people know that there is something out there that they can be a part of.”
The Fort Erie club offers house league and travel soccer from under-3 to under-18 and open age groups. The club boasts nine travel teams this season which is the most the club has had in a number of years. Fort Erie has the third highest registration in Niagara and more than 1,100 players are involved
“The club itself is booming at the moment and it seems there is population moving into the area. Soccer for many reasons is booming in the town and it is brilliant,” Gill said. “Being a small club traditionally, it is now turning the tide a little bit and it is becoming a medium to larger club in the region.”
