Oakville, ON – The Oakville Soccer Club is pleased to announce that the Club's Match Official Mentoring Program has partnered with Professor Ekaterina Netchaeva at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. In the World University rankings, Bocconi University currently places 11th worldwide and 6th in Europe for Business and Management Studies. Netchaeva’s research examines how gender plays out in organizations and how contributions of individuals to groups affect work productivity.
Founded in September 2014, the goal of OSC's Mentoring Program is to promote continuous match official development and provide a forum for the exchange of soccer knowledge. The mission of the mentoring team is to support aspiring referees, provide constructive feedback, and inspire referees to embark on new challenges to help with their growth.
This initiative is overseen by Matthew Aslett, Youth and Adult Mentor Program Coordinator, and Richard Bowden, Referee Development Manager for the Oakville Soccer Club. Matthew is a Commerce Student at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where he works as a Teaching Assistant for Managerial Statistics, Business Communications, Marketing Fundamentals, Human Resources, and Managing Work and Teams. He is also a Research Assistant at Bocconi University, Chair of the Ontario Youth Summit 2018 Committee, and Chancellor’s Scholarship Recipient as one of the top 50 incoming students at the university.
The goal of this partnership with Bocconi University will be to develop and introduce new mentoring methodologies for the Oakville Soccer Club and the Peel Halton Soccer Association as well as Ontario Soccer as a whole. Francis Martin, Director of Match Officials for PHSA has also confirmed their support for the program, thus providing an even greater resource to work with.
Dave Harris, Executive Director for Oakville Soccer Club has fully endorsed the program, stating "The Oakville Soccer Club is extremely pleased to partner with Bocconi University and Oakville native Matthew Aslett on such an important study. Our goal is to assist in the research methodology with the end goal of developing and supporting match officials not only for OSC but for soccer in general.”
Program Coordinator Matthew Aslett is also ecstatic about the new partnership: “It has been very enjoyable to work with Professor Netchaeva for the past three months while abroad in Italy. This will be an excellent opportunity for us to inject academic insights into a program which has made such a significant impact in the match official community. As one of the leading clubs in Ontario for this initiative, we are committed to sharing our best practices to ensure the consistent evolution of the program. Our objective is twofold: providing competent match officials for all levels of games and instilling the skills necessary for our referees to be successful in other endeavors in their lives
Media Contact
Katryna Indewey
Director of Marketing & Communications
905-849-4436 ext. 4435
kindewey@oakvillesoccer.ca