International Ukrainian Soccer Tournament in Toronto, August 2011

By Ihor Duda and Steve Mazur

This summer, in conjunction with Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Toronto Branch’s 20th anniversary celebration of Ukraine’s Independence, the fourth International Ukrainian Football (Soccer) Tournament will take place in Toronto. The games will be played at Centennial Park fields, and the opening ceremonies and championship game will be played at the stadium. Tickets will be available for purchase at the beginning of June.

The history of this tournament is interesting in that it was started by a group of Ukrainian football (soccer) enthusiasts from Australia.

The first International Ukrainian Football Tournament was held in Melbourne, Australia in 2007, followed by Sydney in 2008. The winning teams for the two years were Ukraine and Australia. Teams taking part were from Australia, England, USA and Ukraine. In 2009, the tournament began its global trek to Nottingham, England, and Canada participated in the tournament and took the championship. The team that represented Canada was based out of the Ukrainian National Federation (UNF) Toronto Branch.

At the end of the tournament in Nottingham, Canada was given hosting rights and USCAK (the Canada USA Ukrainian sports governing body (headed by I. Isaiiw), chose USC Karpaty (W. Arendacz, President) which is part of UNF Toronto, to host the tournament. The head of the organizing committee is A. Batruch.

This year’s special soccer tournament will be held August 13-20, 2011 in Centennial Park, Etobicoke, under the auspices of the Ukrainian World Congress and supported by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Toronto Branch. The main sponsor is Ukrainian Credit Union and UNF Toronto is donating its community centre at 145 Evans Ave. as the base for the week.

Organizational details are entering the final stages of planning for the sports portion, as the fields, hotel, insurance, some meals, and transportation for the players have been arranged. The teams are now starting to send deposits and their player registrations. The confirmed participating countries include: USA, Australia, Great Britain (England), and Canada, which as host country has 3 regional entries - Central, Western Canada, and Ottawa/Montreal). Ukraine is awaiting visas and Portugal is preparing to participate. There still exists an outside chance that a Ukrainian diaspora team from Spain will take part.

The head coach for the Canadian Central Team is B. Maslekevych, along with a number of assistant coaches.

The host committee is putting together a cultural program, as well as public relations and media relations, and is looking for volunteers to assist in organizing this aspect of the event. Some details have been confirmed. A more detailed program will be published by mid-June.

To view more details, visit websites: www.iuft.net or www.usckarpaty.ca. Also, a Facebook page is up and running, and some video is available on YouTube.

Together, the Ukrainian Diaspora in Toronto can bring together Canadians and others of Ukrainian descent from throughout the world. We have the opportunity show Ukrainians scattered around the world the strength of Toronto’s Ukrainian community and the Ukrainian spirit instilled in our lives. Working together will make this a spectacular event and celebration of our heritage, soccer (sports), and Ukrainian culture on a world stage.

For more information, contact: A. Batruch (organizing committee head) at 416-577-8558, W. Arendacz (USC Karpaty, President) at 416-807-0988; or B. Maslekevych (Canadian Central Team) at 416-668-9790.