Professional Network
Technical
Ken Wharton
Kenneth Wharton has a distinguished career as a player and coach. Born in Newcastle, England, Ken started his professional soccer career in Hull City in 1974. He joined Newcastle United in 1978 where he played 335 first team games over 11 seasons, where in the end Ken was rewarded with a testimonial game where more than 21,000 supporters attended. In 1990 Ken game to Canada and joined the Winnipeg Fury as a player/coach, before heading back to Europe to fully start his coaching career as an assistant coach at St. Johnston (Scottish Premier League) in 1992. In 1994 Ken joined English Premier League (EPL) club, Middlesbrough, as a youth team coach. In 1999 Ken returned to his roots at Newcastle United where he spent more than a decade as Academy Director/Reserve team coach. Recently Ken has brought his talent back to Canada where he currently holds the position of Director of Coaching for Halifax City Soccer Club. Ken holds a UEFA “A” and Academy Managers License.
Adam Day
Born and raised in London, England, Adam spent all of his youth playing career with Charlton Athletic. In 2003 after brief spells with AFC Bournemouth, Welling Utd, and Fisher Athleti, Adam accepted an offer to play for USAO on a soccer scholarship in the United States. After a standout college career which saw Adam named All American twice and stint at PDL Champions Central Florida Kraze, Adam was invited north to Canada to trial with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Adam started his professional coaching career in 2008 and was name Quest University mens head coach. Adam rejoined the Whitecaps as an academy staff coach in 2010, before departing back to Europe to work for Arsenal FC as the Technical Director for their academy in Greece. Adam holds a UEFA “A” license and has a B.Sc degree in physical education.
Jose (Garrincha) Figueiredo
Garrincha Figueiredo is a well respected coach who moved to Canada in 2008, after playing and coaching professionaly in Spain and Belgium. As a player, Garrincha spent his formative years from 12-19 with SL Benefica and represented Portugal as a member of their national youth team, winning the the U17 world championship in Venezuela, and playing in the U16 European cup in Switzerland. Professionally, Garrincha played in Santiago do Cacern in the Portuguese 2nd division and in Belgium for Rapide Lebbeke. In 2002 Garrincha started his professional coaching career spending time with various professional clubs in Belgium. Garrincha is known for his unique coaching approach and building strong technical/skills fundamentals with his players. He attributes his coaching style to his own strong technical background and the influence of some of his previous coaches/mentors such as Carlos Queiroz (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Portugal) and Bastos Lopez (SL Benfica). Currently Garrincha holds a UEFA “B” license and is the Technical Director of Academy Garrincha, based out of London, Ontario.
Ian McClug
Ian is a UEFA “A” licensed certified who also holds and Canadian and United States national “B” licenses. Ian is a former Toronto FC academy staff coacha and he has also been a provincial team coach for the Ontario Soccer Association. Currently Ian is the owner of 1v1 Soccer FC, which was founded in 2000 and is now one of the leading player development academies Canada; focussing on male and female players from 5 to 16 years of age. Ian provides coaching instruction and pathways for development that enables players to pursue professional or scholastic opportunities
Dr. Paul Biondich designs custom high-performance sports nutrition/supplement programs for elite and amateur athletes and lectures on optimizing performance through injury prevention and performance care techniques. Dr. Biondich also wrote on the latest in sports nutrition in a monthly sports medicine column in an internationally pubished magazine. He has worked with players frmo the MLS, NHL, CSL, CFL, and UFC, in addition to numerous athletes from Canadian national teams. A graduate of University of Waterloo’s Honours Kinesiology program, National College of Chiropractic and has completed diplomas in both Acupuncture and Phytochemical/Natural Medicines.
Dr. Paul Biondich
Sports Science
Steve Ramsbottom is the owner and founder of Performance Institute. Steve earned a Bachleor’s degree in Human Kinetics from the University of British Columbia. He trains several of BC’s top amateur and collegiate athletes, and has served as the strength and conditioning coach for the Vancouver’s professional soccer team, Whitecaps FC as well as Canada’s national wheelchair basketball team, wheelchair rugby team, and wheelchair tennis team. Steve’s notable clients include the Slovakian national hockey team, three time Canadian figure skating champion, Emanuel Sandhu, as well as actors Jessica Alba, Zac Efron, Amanda Peet, and Hugh Jackman.
Steve Ramsbottom
Multimedia
Claudio Castro
A 16 year veteran of the television industry, Claudio Castro has been creating soccer specific content for the past 6 years. His work has been seen on the websites of Major League Soccer (MLS), Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and the Canadian Soccer Association. Claudio’s production company, Futbol Films, produces four weekly half hour shows for GolTV Canada and most recently the company has focussed on helping promote youth soccer in Canada with the launch of startingsquad.com, an online social and multimedia community for young soccer players to promote their skills.
Jodie is an expert in event and venue management. She is currently managing the event operations at RICOH coliseum and BMO field in Toronto. Prior to joining Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Jodie was an integral part of the Vancouver Whitecaps transition to Major League Soccer (MLS) working in two stadiums; moving from Empire Field to the newly renovated BC Place. In addition to her work in soccer, Jodie has experience in other aspects of event and venue management including key operational roles during the Vancouver 2010 olympics and execution of events with more than 100,000 spectators in attendance. She has a sound knowledge of back of house and event service operations.
Jodie Becker
Events
Travel
Darina Jupa-Williams
Darina Jupa-Williams has worked in the travel industry for more than a decade. Since starting her career at Flight Centre in 2002, she has worked in various retail locations, as well as been the travel coordinator for companies in such industries as television production, sports and entertainment, and finance. Her industry experience, knowledge adn resources are far reaching, specializing both in business and leisure travel. Currently she is a TICO certified independent travel advisor with Vision 2000, the largest independent travel company in Canada. As a Virtuoso affiliated travel advisor, she has global connections with the best hotels, cruise lines, airlines, and tour companies.
Jennifer has worked in the sport sector for 17 years, predominantly in the administration and management of soccer. Jennifer has experience with soccer clubs, leagues, and districts and has served as the Executive Director of a provincial soccer association. She has also hosted multiple national and international soccer competitions. She holds a business degree as well as a post-graduate diploma in sports administration.
Jennifer is a leader in promoting and delivering a sport experience that maximizes sport’s benefits for everyone involved. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to E11even Management that can help clubs to streamline their operations through effective strategic planning, human resource management, policy development, and program audits. Jennifer can also support clubs looking to enhance their financial position having secured funding from local, provincial and federal grant programs and sponsors. Jennifer believes that by spending less time dealing with operational issues and problems, clubs can allocate more resources to on-the-field and player development efforts.