Randy Ribeiro: “We’re playing for more than just us”
With less than 2 months until the start of a new League1 Ontario season, our women’s team, and its new head coach Randy Ribeiro, are hard at work putting all the pieces together.
The roster is taking shape - we already announced 17 of the signed players for 2024 - and training is going on, indoors for now, with everyone’s goal to impress a new coach and solidify a starting spot in a team that will be part of the new Premier Division, among the top 10 teams in the highest level of women’s soccer in our province.
We sat down with Coach Randy for an in-depth interview in which we discuss the new season, the roster, League1 Ontario, and give plenty of reasons for our fans to be excited about.
- How is the preseason training going so far?
- So far so good. The last six weeks have been an opportunity for me to get more familiar with the players. We have a new group of players working together, so getting them familiarized with one another and giving myself the ability to get to know them, not only as players, but as people too, I really enjoyed it so far. The group is responding really well, and the girls are really motivated and open to different ideas, that they haven’t been exposed to before. I’m really excited to see what we can do this upcoming season.
- Is the team at the level you expected at this stage of the off-season?
- I think we’re on track. I’m really happy with where we’re at right now. We have a really good group of girls, we have a mix of some older players that have experience in League1 and in professional environments outside of League1 as well, and some young players that are really motivated and have great ambition to play at the highest level they possibly can. They’re a very competitive group with a lot of quality, and good human beings too, which makes it really enjoyable to work with them.
- Are you going to ramp up training as the season approaches, and will there be any friendly matches before the season?
- We definitely want to do some preparation matches. The tough thing about training in Canada is limited space, which is always a hurdle, but one that a majority of clubs face. For me right now, it’s just giving them an environment where they can start to understand one another’s tendencies, and also getting to know me as a coach and what my expectations are. We haven’t dove into the tactical side of the game yet, and how we want to play, but I briefly exposed some ideas, and over the next few weeks hopefully the weather is going to start getting nicer, and once we get outside, we can start working on our tactical ideas, and shapes, and strategies.
- Let’s discuss roster. So far, we have announced 17 players. Anything else we should be expecting over the next few weeks?
- We’re aiming for 20 to 22 players, more or less. We’re almost there. We’re in a very good position, and there will be some more announcements to come, over the next couple of weeks, as we round out all of our signings for 2024. I’ve been really pleased with the interest from players from across the province, that have taken notice of what we’re doing here, and have shown interest of being part of it. Even the younger players in our reserve team, I’ve been really impressed with. They’re all hungry and ambitious to get into the first team, and that’s the culture and environment we want to create here at Guelph United.
- Unfortunately, your previous team, Electric City FC, folded before this season, but that created the opportunity to sign some of your former players. What should we expect from the 4 Electric City players GUFC signed this off-season?
- The four we’re bringing in, I’ve had the chance to work with for several years now. That really helps me, having some players that I’m familiar with in this environment, good people that are gonna contribute to the right culture that we wanna build here, but very competitive and experienced players that are gonna help us win games this season as well. I know they’re really excited for this new opportunity, but at the same time they’re aware that there are some really good quality players that have been in this program already, and that nothing is given, and everything is earned. Everyone is on the same page that we want to field the most competitive team that we possibly can.
- Speaking of competition for spots. One of the four is L1O Goalkeeper of the Year finalist Breanne Carreiro, but you also re-signed Guelph United starter Libby Brenneman. How do you see the goalkeeping competition unfold?
- I’ll be honest, I’ll even go a little further, with our younger goalkeepers too. We have a very competitive pool of goalkeepers here. The communication to all of them has been very consistent, that you have to earn your spot. Libby was outstanding for Guelph last year, Breanne was a finalist for Goalkeeper of the Year, but that’s all last year. They have the next 2 months to continually push themselves, and that’s how I’m gonna make my decision. There’s no solidified number one at this point, or number two, or number three, or number four.
- One of the most hyped signings of our off-season on social media has been young Nova Scotia prospect Bryn Canning. How did that signing come about?
- I’ve actually known Bryn for a long, long time. I went to school on the East Coast, and when I was out there she was very young, but I’ve been keeping tabs on her for the past couple of years. She is a very promising young talent that has flown under the radar, probably didn’t get the exposure that someone from the GTA area with her quality would get. Bryn is a really hungry player that wants to compete at the highest level that she possibly can. Even at this young age, she’s been training like a professional, acting like a professional. I can’t wait to have her here, and I know she’s really excited and motivated as well. I think she’s gonna prove why she’s one of the most exciting young talents coming out of Nova Scotia right now.
- Is there anyone else from our signings that you’d like to mention, for our fans to get excited about?
- Honestly, everybody. The quality of the returning players that we were able to retain here, I’m so happy with. The Guelph United fans are already familiar with them, but I’m excited for them to also see the new players that have joined this program. There will be a different look to the team. I give Coach Ivan the respect he deserves, and what he was able to accomplish here the last few years, and finding ways to get it done. That doesn’t go unrecognized. But my ideas, and the way I like to play, are probably slightly different. What I would say to the community of Guelph, is be prepared to watch a style of football that’s gonna be on the front foot, we want the ball, we’re hungry to score goals, and we want to be a difficult team to play against every single match.
- League1 Ontario is celebrating 10 years this season. You’ve been involved in this league for most of these 10 years. How do you think the quality has changed over years? And how is it now, compared to a few seasons ago?
- I think it’s unbelievable. If you would’ve told me back in 2016, that we would be in a three-tier system with promotion and relegation by 2024, I probably would’ve said, I don’t know about that. It’s pretty incredible to see the fact that so much talent has come into this league. We see the success, like with Olivia Smith, she was playing with North Toronto two seasons ago, and now she’s scored her first international goal for Canada, and plays professionally in Europe. The growth has been exponential, and now, with the promotion and relegation implemented, I think we’re gonna see even higher quality. Especially in the Premier division, but I think there will be some strong teams in the Championship and League2 as well. I think to look past teams that are in a lower division would be a mistake, as they will be hungry to move up the ladder, and teams in the Premier definitely don’t want to drop. That’s our primary goal, to make sure we stay up, but for me, as a personal goal, I wouldn’t be satisfied to just stay up. I wanna be very competitive, and I think the girls in this group feel the same way.
- Speaking of objectives, do you think we have what it takes to fight for the title?
- There’s no reason for me to think we don’t have the quality to fight for the title. There’s some very good teams in this league, but what I will say is the players that we have are players that want to win. There isn’t a single player that will say, “Hey coach, I just hope we stay up”. We want to compete, we want to be in every single game that we play this season. So can we compete for the title? Absolutely. We have to be very very good for a long long time in order for that to happen, as there are no playoffs, so every game really matters.
- Let’s get back to the league structure in Canadian women’s football. As much as League1 Ontario has grown, there’s still a lack of a Canadian professional league. One such potential league was recently announced, for now referred to as Project 8. How important do you think this league will be for Canadian soccer, and are you optimistic in a successful launch?
- For me, it’s something that’s long overdue. It’s so disappointing to see players having to leave Canada to pursue professional opportunities, so I think it’s so exciting and amazing that Project 8 is working really hard to launch. If I remember correctly, they’re looking to launch for 2025, which is next year. Personally, I don’t know the ins and outs about it, but I wanna be very optimistic, and I think it’s gonna be an amazing opportunity for these players, that can use League1 as a platform to jump into that league.
- I imagine that would be the goal for some of our Guelph United players as well, to turn professional at some point.
- For me, I hope all of them. I think that has to be my goal as a coach at the League1 level, I have to continuously push these girls to go on to the highest levels. Whether that’s Project 8, or somewhere else, girls that have that ambition I want to help them get there.
- Let’s wrap this up with one final question: what’s the one thing you’d like to tell Guelph United fans, to get excited about the new season?
- You have a group of girls that are so proud to represent this community, and want to be role models for the young players. They want to make them proud. It’s not just about representing themselves, representing Guelph United, but representing the Guelph community as a whole. That’s something that we talk about every single day, that it’s bigger than just us. We’re playing for more than just us, but for the young players in the community, the fans in the community, and we just want to make everybody proud every single day.
2024 Season Tickets can now be purchased from our shop. They include all 20 league home matches played at the Centennial Bowl, for both our men’s and women’s teams. Prices start at only $65, for adults, and $30, for kids and seniors. Get yours now!