Vincent Ursini (born September 19, 1960) is a Canadian

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

, former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

executive, and

stage actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. Originally a soccer player Ursini drifted to the administrative duties of soccer. Initially serving at the regional association levels he ultimately was elected to the

Ontario Soccer Association Ontario Soccer is a Canadian soccer organization. Established in 1901, Ontario Soccer is one of the oldest sports organizations in Canada. Ontario Soccer is composed of over 350,000 players, as well as coaches, referees, and administrators. Si ...

board of directors. During his tenure with the Ontario Soccer Association, he became involved with the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL). In 2000, he was named the chairman/president of the CPSL and established the league within the Ontario soccer structure. In 2005, he was elected to the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

board of directors as the director of finance. He returned to the CPSL in 2011 under the re-branded name

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

(CSL) under the same capacity of chairman/president. After his resignation from the CSL in 2017 he became involved with the Blackhorse Village Players Theater in

Caledon, Ontario Caledon (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 76,581) is a town (Ontario), town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The name comes from a shortened form of Caledonia, the Roman name for what is ...

as a

Soccer administrator

Ontario Soccer Association

Ursini graduated from

Ivey Business School Ivey Business School is the main business school of Western University, located in London, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time undergraduate and graduate programs in London, Ontario and maintains a Toronto facility for its EMBA program and two ...

at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

in 1983 with a

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. He found employment in financial services as an

and

consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

. He originally played soccer before transitioning to an administrative capacity in the North York and York Region soccer districts. He played at the college level with the

Western Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent University of Western Ontario, Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 Varsity team, varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. a ...

, where he received the Duncan A. McLarty Award in 1982. He became involved with the

(OSA) as the association's treasurer and served on the executive committee. During his tenure with the OSA, he contributed to the planning and construction of the

Ontario Soccer Centre The Zanchin Automotive Soccer Centre, formerly known as The Soccer Centre, is a Canadian competition, training and education facility, focusing on growing the game of soccer. It is located in Vaughan, Ontario, 20 km north-west of downtown ...

Vaughan, Ontario Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

. When the Canadian Professional Soccer League was sanctioned by the OSA in 1998 he served in the capacity of a league director, and later as the league's treasurer.

Canadian Professional Soccer League

In 2000, he was appointed the president/chairman of the CPSL. Throughout his incumbency, he was able to acquire a television deal with

Rogers TV Rogers TV (stylized as Rogers tv) is a group of English-language community channels owned by Rogers Communications. Many of these channels share common programs. Rogers TV broadcasts in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and ...

, which enabled the launch of the CPSL Soccer Show which garnered the highest ratings of any other Sunday program shown on the channel. Sponsorship agreements were made with

Primus Canada Distributel is a brand of Bell Canada headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, founded in 1988 and offering Canadians long distance phone service. Distributel now offers a wide range of high speed Internet plans in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and ...

, and the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

. In 2001, the

(CSA) initiated a task force named the Canadian United Soccer League (CUSL), which formed a working partnership with the CPSL and the Canadian franchises in the

USL A-League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

to forge a unified professional structure in the hopes of forming a Canadian first and second division domestic league. A player agreement was conducted with the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

of the USL A-League, which provided the Lynx access to any CPSL talent upon request. Another notable achievement was the opening of their domestic cup the

Open Canada Cup The Open Canada Cup was an annual knock-out cup competition in Canadian Soccer. The competition was first held during the 1998 season as the CPSL League Cup. It was organized by the Canadian Soccer League (formerly the Canadian Professional ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

to all Canadian professional and amateur clubs to provide a potential candidate for the

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

Canadian Soccer Association

In 2005 at the CPSL Annual General Meeting, he announced his resignation to fully delegate his time to his OSA obligations, and to seek election to the CSA board of directors. In May 2005, he was elected to the CSA executive committee as director of finance. He served as the head of delegation for the

Canada men's national soccer team The Canada men's national soccer team () represents Canada in international Association football, soccer competitions since 1924. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada. They have been a m ...

during the

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF) The CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football) qualification stage for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa consisted of 35 national teams competing for the three berths given automatically to CONC ...

. He was a member of the local organizing committee for the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the scor ...

. In 2009, he was awarded the Aubrey Sanford Meritorious Award and shortly after resigned from the committee. When he returned as chairman of the board to the CSL in 2011 he was granted a seat on the CSA Professional Soccer Committee as it was sanctioned by the CSA.

Canadian Soccer League

In 2011, he returned to his previous occupation as the chairman of the

(CSL) renamed from the CPSL in 2006. The league's membership under Ursini's second administration expanded to a record amount of 28 teams in 2012 with 16 in the First division and 12 in the Second division. Their media coverage was broadened with a television agreement with CogecoTV, and the reintroduction of their weekly television program was picked up by Rogers TV. In 2013, the CSA unexpectedly de-sanctioned the CSL without due process. The decision was made to implement the James Easton Report (Rethink Management Group Report) for the adoption of a new professional soccer structure. As a member in good standing, Ursini represented the CSL in their appeal to the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC). The sport arbitrator ruled that the CSA had the right to de-sanction the CSL, but ruled that the immediate decisions conducted by the CSA were unreasonable and coercive. The sports arbitrator forced them to reinstate sanctioning to the CSL until the next season for the CSA to fairly implement the Easton Report. In 2014, CSA expelled the CSL from its membership which forced the league to operate as a private league for the first time since the 1997 season in its predecessor league, and became a member of the Soccer Federation of Canada. Since the CSA de-certification of the CSL, several reforms and achievements were made under Ursini as the restrictions on import players were lifted, and a working relationship was formed with the American Soccer League (ASL). A television agreement was made with Ethnic Channels Group, and

beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...

to broadcast their television program, and revived their sponsorship deal with

Givova Givova is an Italian manufacturing company located in Scafati. The company, founded on 22 May 2008 by Giovanni Acanfora, produces a wide range of sports equipment (mainly focused on the association football market but also covering other sports) t ...

in 2016. Affiliations were formed with the Ontario Youth Soccer Association to establish a YSA Division to house the CSL academy teams and with the Canadian Corporate Soccer League in developing a structure of competition for the city's

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

clubs in Toronto.

Actor

Ursini is also involved with the Blackhorse Village Players as a

, where he has appeared in plays such as ''A Red Plaid Shirt'', ''The Psychic'', ''Office Hours'', and T''he'' ''Red Velvet Cake War''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ursini, Vince Living people Canadian men's soccer players Association football executives Canadian Soccer Association Canadian male stage actors Canadian accountants Soccer people from Ontario People from Caledon, Ontario Canadian sports executives and administrators 1960 births Men's association football players not categorized by position 20th-century Canadian sportsmen University and college men's soccer players in Canada