Frank Cartella walked into a meeting of the Bradford Minor Soccer Association back in 1988. By the time the meeting ended, he was vice president of the club, which at the time had an enrolment of about 50 kids and a shoestring budget.
Over the years, Cartella took on the presidency, and with the help of an executive that included Albert Wierenga, Dave Burt and Ray Schultz, helped build registration to more than 800 children and youth.
“We started from scratch,” said Cartella.
On his watch, the association introduced competitive soccer to Bradford West Gwillimbury, an in-house referee development program that launched the career of more than one young ref, and the first travelling girls’ soccer team in Simcoe County, recruited from the local high school.
“They did very well,” said Cartella.
He was president from 1989 to 1996. During that time, the association also opened the mini-pitches at the Bradford & District Memorial Community Centre in 1992, incorporated in 1994, and engaged parents as volunteer coaches and managers.
“Being involved is hard. We all have jobs. We all have families,” said Cartella.
But the payback was real: “We have memories, good memories. We made lifelong friends. That’s what it’s all about.”
On May 24, at the opening of the season for the house league teams at Henderson Memorial Park, Cartella was honoured by the Bradford Soccer Club — that now has an enrolment of about 1,200 kids between the ages of three and 18.
On the new mini-pitches, Cartella was presented with a lifetime membership in the club — the first ever issued — by the club’s president Daniela Bucciol, vice president Maureen Easby and general manager Dave Lontini.
Back when Cartella first started, things were very different. Fees were low, largely because the club paid no user fees to the town to use the soccer pitches, and everything was volunteer run.
While the Bradford Soccer Club makes every effort to keep the sport affordable, today the club has additional costs: per-player user fees levied by the town, the cost of trained coaches and referees, and rental of the Bradford Sports Dome for winter programs.
With 12 rep teams — “The most we ever had was three,” said Cartella — there is an expectation that highly-trained coaches will be provided, noted Lontini.
“Now parents demand high-level coaching. It requires money.”
“Ontario soccer has changed a lot over the years,” agreed Bucciol. She spoke about continuing popularity of soccer in BWG, with all of the new pitches at Henderson Memorial Park in use on a Monday night, and a new program that engages three year olds that has at least 80 tots signed up to-date.
Mayor Rob Keffer and Deputy Mayor James Leduc were on-hand at the ceremony honouring Cartella to thank him for his contributions to the youth of the community and recognize his work.
Cartella’s response? “It was the greatest time of my life.”
