Anthony De Thomasis is an Italian-born Canadian businessman,

financial management advisor The financial management advisor (FMA) is a professional designation of the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI), the official educator of the Canadian securities industry. The FMA is a personal financial planning designation which is usually a pr ...

, and president of De Thomas Wealth Management. He served as the Director of Soccer Operations for Mississauga MetroStars in the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The le ...

. De Thomasis also ventured into the business side of soccer, where he purchased the

York Region Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian association football, soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue ...

of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. He eventually solidified the franchise into a powerhouse within the league. He also managed the team for several seasons, and achieved significant results by winning the

CSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports le ...

in 2006, and 2017. In 2018, he briefly was associated with Filipe Bento's organization

Unionville Milliken SC Unionville Milliken Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Unionville, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its women's and men's semi-professional teams in League1 Ontario in 2017 and ...

, and placed the team into

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

Business career

De Thomasis was born in Abbateggio in the

Province of Pescara The province of Pescara (; Abruzzese: ') is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pescara, which has a population of 119,483 inhabitants. As of 2017, it has a total population of 319,936 inhabitants over an area o ...

. He later emigrated to Canada and graduated from

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

in 1976 with honors in Mathematics and Science. Upon graduation he began working in the

wealth management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-hi ...

field with various independent firms in the capacity of an adviser, manager, and director. In 1987, along with six advisers he formed De Thomas Financial Corp, and later was renamed De Thomas Wealth Management. In 2013, some of the firm's financial advice was chastised in a report conducted by the

Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

, but the

Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

found no fault in the firm's actions. In 2016, he was listed in the Top 50 financial advisers in Canada.

Soccer career

De Thomasis initially became involved in soccer by coaching at the youth level. In 2002, he purchased the

franchise in the Canadian Professional Soccer League from Frank Bisceglia. The following season the Shooters merged with the Vaughan Sun Devils to unify the

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional ...

territory with De Thomasis becoming the principal owner. After the acquisition Vaughan reached the CPSL Championship final in four consecutive seasons, and clinched their first piece of silverware the Eastern Conference title in 2005. In 2005, he was awarded the CPSL Commissioner's Award. As part of the reforms conducted by CSL Commissioner Cary Kaplan the Vaughan Shooters became inaugural members of the International Division, and were renamed the Italia Shooters in 2006. Throughout the season De Thomasis undertook the coaching duties, and claimed the organizations first championship title, and was recognized by the league with the Coach of the Year Award. In 2010, he received the Harry Gauss Memorial Award for his continual allegiance, commitment and support to the league. In 2017, he managed York Region to their second championship title. In 2018, he formed a partnership with former player Filipe Bento to launch

. In 2019, he was named Director of Soccer Operations for Mississauga MetroStars in the

Honours

Manager

;Italia/York Region Shooters *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Thomasis, Tony 20th-century births Living people People from the Province of Pescara Canadian soccer coaches Soccer people from Ontario York Region Shooters coaches Year of birth missing (living people) Italian emigrants to Canada Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) coaches Canadian soccer chairmen and investors Financial planners Financial advisors York University alumni