Ron Smale was quick to acknowledge the Ontario Soccer Association made an error.

What the association president regretted was the lack of proper action his organization took in the under-16 boys’ final of the 2014 Ontario Cup when the West Toronto Cobras took an appeal involving the usage of a player who’s eligibility was questioned to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

The courts ruled in West Toronto’s favour and denied the Woodbridge Strikers from representing Ontario at the National Club Championships in Mount Pearl, Nfld. after they defeated the North Mississauga Panthers in what was supposed to be the Ontario Cup championship final.

While Smale said they cannot turn back the hands of time to keep the courts out of the picture, the association will try to make amends with the four semifinal teams after revealing some bitterness still exists among the organizations who were involved in that ugly situation.

As a means of doing so, the association has invited the four semifinal teams, which also includes Mount Hamilton, to attend what Smale described as a Player Centre Day at the Ontario Soccer Association’s indoor facility Friday, Jan. 9 starting at 9 a.m.

During that session, the players and coaches from those teams will be actively involved in a clinic featuring a number of current and former national team members including current head coach Benito Floro, former national team player Paul Stalteri, Canada Soccer technical director Tony Fonseca and national men’s under-17 coach Sean Fleming.

“Sure we should have handled things differently,” Smale said of the Ontario Cup incident. “I take accountability. We need to correct ourselves. It was disappointing that we did not take the appropriate position.”

“As a means of moving forward we’re trying to embrace the kids who were negatively affected and showcase these kids who have aspirations of continuing to play at another level. We want to take a negative situation and make it into a positive one. We want to do something special.

“There’s people out there who say we (OSA) aren’t moving forward. But that’s not true. We want to make this a positive experience for the kids.”

In the meantime, Smale said their association is making amendments to their Ontario Cup rules to prevent such a mishap from re-occurring in which the provincial courts could be involved.