Canada Soccer has invited the soccer communities, municipalities, and interested parties from coast to coast to coast to host their biggest annual competition – the Toyota National Championships in 2020 and 2021. Canada Soccer has opened its request for proposals across three age groups in each year with a 6 January 2018 deadline for letters of interest. The bid process will extend into the New Year with the selected hosts for each event being announced at the Annual Meeting of the Membership in May 2018.
The Toyota National Championships are Canada’s premier amateur club competition, with the week-long finals held simultaneously across three venues each October. For both 2020 and 2021, Canada Soccer will work in collaboration with the Local Organising Committee as established by the successful bidding proposals for each of the following competitions: the Men’s Challenge Trophy and Women’s Jubilee Trophy finals; the Boys and Girls U-17 Cup; and the boys and girls U-15 Cup.
“The Toyota National Championships are the crown of the premier amateur soccer season, bringing together clubs, players, coaches, officials, and volunteers from all regions of our country,” said Peter Montopoli, General Secretary, Canada Soccer. “Every year, the Toyota National Championships offer an impactful experience for our sport and our host communities, helping to build an important legacy for sport in Canada.”
For the 2017 Toyota National Championships, close to 600 teams and more than 10,000 players took part in 13 months of qualifiers in the lead up to the finals in three venues: Surrey, British Columbia; Fredericton, New Brunswick; and Calgary, Alberta. From 4-9 October, 63 teams took part in the finals with 153 matches played over six days, 54 of which were live streamed across the country. Canada Soccer’s website attracted more than half a million page views during the six-day coverage while there were more than 1.4 million impressions on Twitter, 125,000 impressions on Facebook, and 380,000 impressions on Instagram. In the week after the finals, Canada Soccer’s photo library garnered more than 300,000 views in four-day window, including a Canada Soccer record 100,000 views in a single day.
The opportunity to bid is open to all Canadian communities. Canada Soccer strongly encourages bidding communities to obtain the support of the Provincial or Territorial Soccer Association, City, and/or Local Soccer Club. The final site selection for the Toyota National Championships will be managed by Canada Soccer’s Competition Selection Committee. Successful bid applicants will be awarded one of the age categories by the Canada Soccer Competitions Committee.