Saturday October 9th, 2005 CPSL Awards Banquet (by Rocket Robin)
Awards given out at "La Contessa Banquet Hall" in North York at the CPSL Awards Banquet last night. North York Astros were the hosts this year. The element of surprise was gone this year for the individual awards as the trophies were all on display on a table so it was easy to read the plaque names. The last few years they've had a sheet over them so it's somewhat of a surprise. I know the winners are probably tipped off so they'll most likely to show up to be presented with their trophies.
I thought attendance was down from last year with maybe only 120 people there (16 tables for ten with some empty and some not completely full). This year the dinner was held on a different day then any games were played. MC of the event was the Astros announcer Enio Perruzza. He toned it down from his usual loud voice for this small event. Any fan on Friday night's game between Astros and Toronto Croatia can probably remember that the DJ who sent his son this night forgot his microphone so Enio just yelled the names out the open window of the press box. I don't think anyone in the stands couldn't hear him!
No speeches until the end because there were a lot of prizes to give out:
1. Game official of the year (presented by Hugh Elliott): Andre Jasinski (Elliott said Jasinski had refereed the Glasgow Rangers exhibition game and drew compliments from Ally McLeish who said "I didn't know Canada had such high caliber refereeing").
2. Coach of the year (presented by member of Toronto Council Pete Lo Preti): Dejan Gluscevic (from North York Astros). This came with a $150 cheque.
3. Eastern Runner Up (presented by Clifford Dell): Toronto Croatia; accepted by club official Theo Krajacic (interesting after the ceremony that of his two cardboard boxes holding a trophy for each individual player, he told me "the players aren't interested in runner up trophies so we'll pull off the plate and put on our sponsor's name and give it to them).
4. Eastern Champions: (presented by Clifford Dell): Vaughan Shooters; accepted by Tony DeThomasis.
5. Western Runner Up (presented by Hector Marinaro): Oakville Blue Devils; accepted by club official Goran Miscevic.
6. Western Champions: (presented by Hector Marinaro): Hamilton Thunder; no one there to accept.
7. Goal Scorer (presented by Vince Ursini I think): Aaron Byrd from Border Stars with 20 goals.
8. Open Cup Runner Up (presented by Vince Ursini): London City; accepted by a player I didn't recognize.
9. Open Cup Champions (presented by Vince Ursini): Border Stars; accepted by owner/player/coach Jeff Hodgson.
10. Fair Play Award (presented by Peter Lo Preti): North York Astros; accepted by owner Bruno Ierullo. This came with a $500 cheque.
11. CPSL MVP (presented by Cary Kaplan): Desi Humphrey from Vaughan Shooters.
12. CPSL Rookie of the year (presented by referee Amato De Luca): Dennis Peeters from London City.
13. Goalkeeper of the year (presented by Stan Adamson): Haider Al-Shaibani from London City.
14. Defender of the year (presented by Stan Adamson): Filip Rocca from Border Stars.
15. Women's Canada Cup (presented by Bruno Ierullo): York Region Lady Shooters; accepted by Tony DeThomasis.
16. Service Awards (presented by Cary Kaplan): Vince Ursini and Tony DeThomasis.
17. Colin Linford speech: CPSL has a place in the structure of the OSA. There is a place for all of us to play. It's good that CPSL is involved in female sides now.
18. Stan Adamson speech: CPSL has a high level of play in CPSL, "it's entertainment", it's his four years and no-one has said to him "I've wasted my $10." we're focused on what needs to be done to correct the negative. It's an "investment" (not in the financial sense) for the greater good. What can we do to help the league? Improve the quality of the game. Checking the player cards for player eligibility is demeaning. Thanks the media for good print and web sites.
19. Cary Kaplan speech: excellent players in this league. Excellent officiating. A lot of work to do. The league has "survived" for 83 years but now it needs to "thrive". The league has strong owners (then he ran through them all except mentioning Durham Storm). There'll be changes in some team names next year with ethnic names again. He was impressed by the exhibition game between CPSL all stars and Glasgow Rangers (0-0 at halftime), the women's open cup has started and the CPSL did it! CPSL it's not about soccer. [Huh?]. We need 2, 3, 4000 fans per game and we have a chance to do that. "Surviving is finished, thriving is next!" it's been his pleasure and privilege to be involved in the league.
MC Enio makes the last announcement: The host of the 2006 CPSL Championships will once again be North York Astros... (The next day he said they were also awarded the 2007 CPSL Championships too). At least on artificial turf at this time of year, they won't have to worry about a playing in a mud pit.
Wrapped up by 10:00pm. All this took place in less than 60 minutes.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
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