SSA Staffing Announcement

Saskatchewan Soccer Association wishes to extend our most sincere congratulations to Terrol Russell who has accepted the position of Director of Club Operations for the Prince George Youth Soccer Association (PGYSA) in Prince George, B.C.

Coach Russell began with Saskatchewan Soccer Association in February 2007. When we asked Terrol what he was most proud of in his time with the Association, he shared these accomplishments:

•  100% graduation rate of HPDC (REX) athletes into collegiate environments within Canada and the USA and three others recently received collegiate scholarship offers (51 Athletes)

• Six HPDC (REX) athletes trialed with the Swansea City Ladies program in 2015 and 2016. Taylor Bubnick and JJ Altrogge transferred to Wales in their grade twelve year to play with the Swansea City Ladies program.

• For the three year period of 2014-2017, we evolved our coach development structure to provide individual coaches with individualized development programs and the success is evident, in that all coaches have been retained within the system and are actively coaching.

• Co-development of a female and male High Performance pathway through the HPDC (REX) and WFC development programs for our identified female and male athletes respectively. 

• The conceptualization and development of the SSA’s Stream-Based Model and the outline of the High Performance Stream’s seven High Performance programming options. 

• Co-development of the High Performance Strategic Plan with Joan Nash and Dave Nutt, bolstered by the support of SaskSport Inc. and Dr. Davis of Sports Performance Management. Dr. Davis, a world class sport systems planner, commented that the SSA High Performance Plan was one of the finest he had ever seen.

• Witnessing our provincial University and College programs achieve multiple successes over the past decade, with many of their recruits coming from within the province.

• Ongoing refinement of our High Performance Stream to ensure High Performance Stream athletes were selected and placed according to development age and not chronological age.

• Conceptualization and co-development of an 11v11 Showcase Series province-wide competition structure, which was put in place to ensure Saskatchewan participants had access to 11v11 soccer year-round.  Collegiate coach attendance has grown to include coaches from the USports and CCAA in Canada, and the NCAA and NAIA in the USA.

• Development of a Centre of Goalkeeper Excellence program to ensure a specialized position is provided specialized training.

• Development of an Integrated Sports Science Team that encompassed members from Mental Skills, Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning, and Motor Control.

• Encouragement of HPDC (REX) athletes to be trained as both referees and coaches, and their participation in the ‘FIFA Live your Goals’ event with Karina Leblanc. 

“It is hard to believe how quickly 11 years have passed by.  With the goals set a decade ago when the current system was being conceptualized, now having been achieved, I feel comfortable making a life transition and taking on an entirely new project.  With every success we had as a province over this period, there was a team of people and a family unit supporting and committing to the evolution of our system.  With every athlete graduating onto new opportunities, we have matured to ensure each participant has the chance of reaching their individual dreams and goals.  With the knowledge and input of our provincial team of technical leaders, administrators, volunteers and participants, we have matured together and are leaders in many areas within this great country.  To all those part of the Saskatchewan Soccer membership, I wish you nothing but future success and hope to see you on the pitch again in the near future.” 

– Terrol Russell (B.Sc. Kin., M.Sc., MSES)

In assuring programming is well-preserved, SSA is pleased to announce that going forward Yiannis Tsalatsidis, in an expanded role of High Performance Coordinator, will be responsible for the leadership of all technical aspects of the High Performance Stream.  Joan Nash will also assume an expanded leadership role as the High Performance Stream Administrator and will lead all aspects of program execution and logistics.  Their combined talents and experience will allow them to uphold and further develop the quality plans and programming that have been established by Coach Russell.
 
Yiannis Tsalatsidis (B. Admin., A-License Part 1, C & B-License Coach Developer) joined SSA in 2017. His relentless desire for growing the game combined with his experience coaching across various levels of the game have positioned him for success in a new leadership role with our High Performance Stream.  Yiannis has a deep rooted passion for coaching and coach education, and in the past year has enjoyed connecting and sharing best practices with hundreds of coaches through member visitation and education sessions. 
 
Joan Nash (B. Phys. Ed., B. Education) has been employed in soccer for 16+ years and recently celebrated her 11^th anniversary with Saskatchewan Soccer Association. Joan has been a major contributor to the development of the game in the province, and as a key member of the HP team, Joan has had significant influence on the quality of the High Performance programming over the years. 

 “Terrol Russell has demonstrated a tireless work ethic and passion for the development of soccer. With Terrol’s guidance our High Performance programming is now world class. We wish Terrol and his family nothing but the best as he returns to his roots in B.C. and thank him for his immense contributions to the game of soccer in Saskatchewan.  With new leadership in place, Saskatchewan Soccer Association remains fully committed to the continued evolution of our High Performance programming to ensure more of our athletes can achieve their goals of playing at the highest levels in the game.”

- Doug Pederson, SSA Executive Director

Terrol’s last day with the Association will be on May 4^th, 2018. Effective immediately, communications regarding the SSA High Performance Stream can be directed to Joan Nash at j.nash@sasksoccer.com.
 
SSA Welcomes Brynn Kosteniuk Back to the SSA Staff
In other staff news, Brynn Kosteniuk begins a term position as the Technical Administrator for Competitions and Referees as of April 17, 2018.  Brynn has an extensive soccer background and we welcome her back with SSA while she finalizes her B. SC. in Health Studies. She will provide valuable support until the end of July when she will move on to pursue her Master of Science in Health Policy Research, and she can be contacted at tacr@sasksoccer.com.