Robert Mccall

Review of Orillia Lightning Soccer Club

PLEASE READ before joining I'm not sour I'm just...

PLEASE READ before joining I'm not sour I'm just telling the truth on ODS so you know what your getting into....I give it 1 star based on allot of experience with the club, this club is like most in orillia you will find the executive members reffing games and making money yet no involvement by the board to help unless $ changes hands . The club isn't putting any money into developing the orillia soccer program the executive are old men supplying no name cheap uniforms, cheap 5 year old beat up balls and not enough balls for practice or games. The traveling teams are over paying for nothing extra, no better uniforms like others clubs or additional coaching. The majority of clubs do extras for u teams like innisfil , bracebridge or barrie do for U teams orillia skimps and saves. The club needs a good overhaul and move out everyone involved at the top the old guard behind the money and stop with the back door deals to whoever supplies the kits and invest in the club and the orillia lightening brand. Barrie went through a bad patch and came back stronger due to corruption. Orillia are struggling in every age group as a soccer club and other clubs know it, ODS are barley hanging onto a club its new people to orillia keeping it alive but they come for a year then leave ... huge surge in sign ups to surrounding areas and orillia's thought is if your not happy take your Tim bits ball and go elsewhere for soccer, again old guard mentality complaining falls on deaf ears. I say save your money go with oro, Warminster, wasaga beach, rama or bracebridge if your local for house league you will get a better value $ and a club that backs you as a player. If you are looking for a development team go to barrie you won't find a decent u team in orilia sadly. ODS can't recruit quaility players they don't know how too recruit players from house league or keep players returning. The club is really in shambles from no coaches in timbits , house league teams being stacked and not enough quality players for u teams in all ages. They also don't have enough or quality coaches for the teams and won't pay for coaches training. Too many clubs are getting parents dropping hundreds into a program for non paid amateur coaching and $20 made in China kits and orillia is one of the worst for value for money. I'd really like to see things change at the club but until the board changes and leaves and maybe an audit into spending things won't change. All the executive have bright red shirts they must be for golf tournments because they don't know how to run a club.