Also: MLS Playoff Bracket; UEFA mid-week results; Big matches this weekend; and more!

At some point in the near future, a community in Muskoka – preferably my burgeoning home in Huntsville – will have a proper indoor fieldhouse facility.

Last year, when I ran for council and said we need a dome over Conroy Park, I was not only recognizing an immediate need for our soccer needs throughout Muskoka and the surrounding regions, but also for lacrosse, track, Huntsville High School, and any other user groups who would benefit from it.

Though it is actually an immediate need, a dome over the track and turf field at Conroy (as well as an extension and cover over the tennis courts) is much need for the future as well to meet our growing community’s needs.

I love how we like point to the fact we hosted a G8 and have a park dedicated to it but without giving the proper facilities to those in our communities who are dedicated to the world’s most played sport. By the way, those nations whose flags we proudly fly are all very good at football/soccer and include multiple World Cup winners.

And it’s not only to cater to the players in our community, even though that is who foots the bill.

We can bring in offseason tournaments several times a year for both adult and youth teams, putting heads in beds, filling up food and beverage establishments, and providing boosts to retail outlets bottom lines. Any knowledgeable individual can vouch for the positive economic impacts of sports tourism – especially during the shoulder seasons.

Oh, and it also means that we can really take our programs up a notch, offering more recreational and competitive opportunities than ever before – without relying on gym space or having to travel as far as Bradford to find a proper indoor facility in the cooler months.

That is another important point: an indoor facility in Muskoka will most certainly draw teams from north of Barrie through to North Bay as well as from Parry Sound through to Haliburton.

Okay, so obviously I play soccer, I coach, both my kids play, and I’m and vice president of the Huntsville Soccer Club. But let’s look beyond my personal reasons for wanting a dome.

As an active member of this community – and Muskoka as a whole – and a parent, I know that there are so many user groups who would benefit from a dome at Conroy Park . . . or anywhere else in Muskoka (though it should be in an easily accessible area for everyone).

The dome is something field lacrosse – and the lacrosse community in general – is supportive of because it allows for late winter and spring training ahead of the field lacrosse season. From what I’ve come to understand, they barely get practice time out there before their first game of the year and sometimes don’t get any practice.

Plus, they often can’t host games or tournaments (at least not until the season is well underway) under the current circumstances but would definitely be able to under a dome.

As a town and a community, it’s time to get serious about our future recreational needs, which includes a year-round covered field, track, and other indoor facilities such as tennis courts and basketball courts that aren’t dependent on school board regulations and timing.

The next question is how will we pay for the dome and other facilities? Well, that will require a combination of financial support from a variety of sources.

This is inclusive of user groups pitching in what they can, corporate sponsorship providing some funding, fundraising where possible, accessing tourism-based funding from the municipal tax reserves (or other like funds), and using that pool of monies to get funding from the provincial or federal government or both.

It’s doable and as a community we’ve certainly proven where there is a will there is a way.

I understand some covered outdoor recreational facilities are being discussed for either the Lion’s Lookout field or on the Muskoka Heritage Place property. Even though some may not have skin in the game for what’s being proposed, I’m all for more recreational facilities in our community.

I’ll just say that while we’re looking at those, we should also be looking at what else we need to ensure all user groups and all members of our community have the facilities they need to run vibrant and successful programs.

They don’t have to be built simultaneously, but they can be planned for and budgeted for simultaneously with an eye to the future.

There is no need to wait on getting the ball rolling on providing the community with all the recreational facilities it needs . . . let’s get that process started now.

MLS Playoff bracket and Prediction

Rather than sit here and pretend I know more than anyone else about what will happen in the Major League Soccer playoffs, I’ll just share a pic of the bracket I filled out.

Some of the picks are logical and others are emotional (Richie Laryea in Van City to make a solid run).

Either way, here it is. Ridicule me as you will.

MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and TSN will have the matches in Canada.

Not many surprises in UEFA comps

It’s the halfway point of the group stage in all UEFA continental competitions and, for the most part, things are going as expected.

Champions League

Perhaps the only real surprise is Feyenoord (6 points) leading Group E above Atletico Madrid (5 points), Lazio (4 points) and Celtic (1 point) – though all four could still finish in the top 2 to qualify for the knockout rounds.

Some under-informed individuals or silly Mancs may point to another surprise being Manchester United (3 points) being in third in Group A behind leaders Bayern Munich (9 points) and Galatasaray (4 points), but they would be wrong. Man United are merely a decent squad that can have good days and bad like any other decent squad, so it’s no surprise they only have one win from three matches.

Meanwhile, in the aptly named Group of Death (Group F), all is up for grabs with PSG (6 points), Dortmund (4 points), Newcastle (4 points), and AC Milan (2 points) all able to cause problems for each other. It was the most interesting group before the matches started and it’s still the most interesting group after three have been played.

Europa League

Though it’s widely considered Europe’s second tier continental competition, I would venture that many of the bigger name clubs in the Europa League would be performing very well in the Champions League this season.

Liverpool, AS Roma, and Bayer Leverkusen (first place in the Bundesliga) all have a full 9 points from their three matches in their respective groups. All have looked quality on the European stage and each have excellent squads – particularly their starting elevens when healthy – that could take full points against pretty much any Champions League side (even the big time favourites).

Even Atalanta and Real Betis would make the Champions League much more interesting.

All that is to say: don’t sleep on this competition or the top-notch quality of the better teams vying for the title.

Conference League

Most of the favourites are leading their groups in this third tier competition. However, there are a couple of underachievers such as Besitkas in last with only 1 point in Group D, Fiorentina tied for first in Group F with only 5 points out of a possible 9, and Aston Villa tied for first with six points in Group E.

The next round of matches in all three competitions takes place from November 7 to November 9. Matches in Canada are streamed live on DAZN.

For all results, the full match schedule, and standings, visit: www.uefa.com

This Weekend’s Big Matches

In Serie A, two huge encounters take place on Sunday with Roma travelling to the San Siro to take on Inter Milan (1 p.m.) and Napoli hosting AC Milan (3:45 p.m.) at the Diego Maradona Stadium.

Since a frustrating start to the season as a whole, Roma have won five straight matches in all competitions while first-place Inter is unbeaten in five (4 wins, 1 draw). It should make for an interesting battle. Giallorossi manager Jose Mourinho, a former Inter manager, will unfortunately miss the match due to a red card received against Monza last week.

The defending Serie A champions, Napoli have had an up-and-down season but have won two straight including a 1-0 away win over Union Berlin on Wednesday in the Champions League.

Milan on the other hand fell 3-0 away to PSG in the Champions League, their second straight loss to a quality opponent which includes a 1-0 home defeat last weekend to Juventus.

All Serie A matches are available to stream on FuboTV Canada, while full schedule, results and standings can be found at https://www.legaseriea.it/en

In England, it’s Sunday’s last match of the weekend that has the biggest interest for neutral and casual fans of the sport as the Manchester derby takes place with United hosting City. Like most intelligent football fans (none of which support either club) I hope for an injury-filled battle and a 0-0 draw.

As the old Liverpool supporter chant goes, “We only hate Mancs, we only hate Maaaaancs! We’re not racist, we only hate Mancs.”

EPL matches are streamed on FuboTV Canada, while full results, schedule and standings can be found at: https://www.premierleague.com/

In the Bundesliga, the most interesting match of the weekend has second place VfB Stuttgart hosting sixth place Hoffenheim. Meanwhile, surprise leaders Leverkusen host Freiburg, and Dortmund travels to play Eintracht Frankfurt.

DAZN Canada streams Bundesliga matches, while all results, schedules and standings can be found at: www.bundesliga.com/en

El Classico takes place in Spain this Saturday, with Barcelona hosting Real Madrid. Unfortunately, it lacks the same appeal as it once did when the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Torres, and all the many others that played with those icons – plus the many who came before – took the pitch for either side. Still, it’s a huge match for La Liga and those interested can watch it on TSN+ … kick-off is 10:30 a.m.

FAREWELL SIR BOBBY CHARLTON

A moment of applause will be held during all English Premier League matches this weekend to honour Sir Bobby Charlton, one of England’s best ever footballers, who passed away last weekend at the age of 86.

Charlton was awarded the Ballon d’Or in 1966, the same year he was voted Footballer of the Year, and the year he helped lead England to their one and only World Cup victory. He was also the first player in history (eight have followed since) to win the World Cup, European Cup (the Champions League trophy), and the Ballon d’Or.