This is a Guest Post written by Eduardo Bojorquez, Chairman of the IGSL.
We are the Inter-Governmental Soccer League (IGSL). Our league is entering its third year.
The idea is to have a soccer league composed of government departments, including Federal, Provincial, Municipal, Aboriginal, and Regional. We will also welcome other autonomous departments, such as Ottawa Police, RCMP, and Firefighters.
Some of our teams in the past two seasons were:
|
Advanced |
Beginners/Intermediate |
| AGR/CFIA United (Champs 2012) | CBSA Contrabandidos (Champs 2012) |
| CRA Attackers (Champs 2011) | CRA Zies (Champs 2011) |
| Fisheries and Oceans | CRA Integra |
| Forces | Competition Bureau |
| DND | Gordo CBSA |
| CBSA United | CBSA NKOTB |
| NRC Aerospace |
Players from other departments, such as RCMP, Parliament, Health Canada, also joined some of the above teams.
We play mostly in the Ottawa-Barrhaven area, due to field distances and time to get there from work. We avoid Kanata and Orleans. In the past we have played in Bayshore Park as the westernmost field, Jasmine Park as the Easternmost, and Barrhaven as the southernmost fields. Some other fields that we have used in the past couple of years are Colonel By High School, Gloucester High School, Fisher Park, and Mother Teresa High School, etc.
Our league was founded with the objective of having employees, their families, and very close friends playing together. We also promote camaraderie among departments in a safe environment to play soccer.
We run two co-ed divisions: Advanced (Div 1) and Beginners/Intermediate (Div 2). Usually Div 1 plays on Tuesdays and Div 2 on Mondays. The kick-off time is 18:30 P.M. and 18:00 P.M. when the sun sets earlier in late August.
We start the season with an indoor tournament with a 7 vs. 7 players format. The season consists of 15 games using 11 vs. 11 players format.
We do not affiliate to any soccer association, since we are a recreational and intra-mural league. However, we follow FIFA rules and we always use referees. Our referees, and the chair of discipline, are certified by the Ontario Soccer Association, OSA. We also pay Insurance for the league in case it is needed.
Last year the fee per team was $2251.50, with a maximum of 20 players plus 5 spare players. The pricing is lower than any other league, because we do not have the overhead of affiliations; we run our own structure. The fee may only change if the city increases its field fees. The tournament fee is separate, and is usually around $150 per team for 2 to 3 hours of fun.
For more information, you can contact the IGSL Administration. Email: gestionnaire_intergov@rogers.
