In this compelling episode, Paul Varian examines the challenging issue of soccer in the schools system. Why do so many amateur soccer clubs have difficulty forming relationships with their local schools and who is doing this well?

Hear how West Vancouver Field Hockey Club have developed an integration program on Vancouver's north shore that has put field hockey sticks in the hands of over 3,000 elementary school kids! Listen to how Beechwood FC in Dublin, Ireland, have expanded their schools relationships to include important facilities relationships and targeting of local French schools. And explore how Saskatchewan Soccer is launching a provincial-level program that focuses on the in-school soccer playing experience rather than just trying to links schools to their member clubs.

This is an episode filled with great real world case studies and expert commentary from Paul Varian. Listen right now and see how you can unlock the schools question in your soccer club!

Volunteers are the life blood of amateur soccer - but they are getting harder and harder to find! In this episode, Paul Varian confronts the growing challenge of volunteerism in amateur soccer head on. Where have all the volunteers gone? And more importantly, what are we going to do about it?

Hear two great case studies on how organizations at either end of the volunteer spectrum are tackling the challenges modern sport volunteerism presents. One, a small amateur soccer club in Pemberton Youth Soccer Association near Whistler in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. The other, the mighty Canada Games Council, which had to source and recruit approximately 4,000 this past summer for the 2022 Canada Games in Niagara, Ontario, and sometimes needs to find as many as 6,000 for other Canada Games events!

How has the sport job market changed over the pandemic and where are we now? On the back of the release of an important, comprehensive study of the Canadian Amateur Sport System pre and post pandemic by Capitis Consulting, Paul Varian is joined again by amateur sport HR specialist Mark Thompson of human capital development firm McKinley Solutions.

Together over a cup of coffee, Paul and Mark analyze the findings of the report with respect to amateur sport staffing levels, salary market rates and how to stay competitive in a job market that has tilted to be heavily candidate-driven on the back of pandemic staff shortages and the impact of the Great Resignation.

A must-listen episode if you work in amateur soccer and want to see how you or your soccer organization stack up in the current job market and beyond!