After a long, and often bumbling, walk in the wilderness, the Canadian Soccer Association has a golden chance to grow up on Saturday.
You’ve read tons about the reform structure – this new, stripped-down governance model that is mostly now in place, except for the people who will fill its seats.
A president and six regional directors will be elected at the CSA 2012 annual general meeting, set to tee off early Saturday morning at the Ottawa Convention Centre in the nation’s capital.
If the CSA is truly serious about reform, a new president is absolutely essential.
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It likely wouldn’t be fair to say that sitting president Dominique Maestracci has wounded or deeply damaged the game of soccer in Canada. He’s been largely ineffective, though. Most of the heavy lifting in the past four years has been done by the CSA’s quiet, effective general secretary, Peter Montopoli – and there’s also been solid, ground-breaking work behind the scenes from the constitution and governance people.
But still we have struggling national teams, a badly underfunded set-up, no technical director, an ongoing fight over how many Canadians have to play for Canada’s three MLS teams, and a commitment to long-term player development – the dreadfully named “Wellness to World Cup” – that lacks any form of coherent curriculum to turn its jargon and bafflegab into solid, sound youngsters to qualify us for World Cups.
I began this series to try to flush the CSA selection process out of the back rooms. It hasn’t been a total success, but some good and useful progress did get made.
The three presidential candidates – Dominique Maestracci, Rob Newman and Victor Montagliani – have three times been coaxed out onto the same stage to state their cases and pitch their platforms.
The first was right here, at Canadian Soccer News. All three men consented to detailed interviews two weeks ago.
From there, they appeared last week at the Ontario Soccer Association’s AGM, campaigning and answering questions, all in pursuit of the king-crowning 25% of the vote held by Canada’s largest and most populous province.
Then, last night, just before the kickoff of the 2012 Voyageurs Cup tournament, all three were featured in a short Sportsnet documentary on the presidential election, and its urgent importance for both the immediate and long-term future of our game.
Prominent among those stressing the immediate need for change at the top was one J.D. Miller, head of an independent organization called B210, which specializes in mobilizing private money for underfunded athletes and sports programs. His point? Without a new leader, there will be a chilling effect on new corporate funding for Canadian soccer.
What Sportsnet didn’t have time to tell you is that Miller is presently deeply involved in CSA reform. He’s one of five members of the CSA Nominations Committee – the people who are selecting three new appointed members for the CSA board.
That threat – that promise – is coming from the inside.
For his part, Maestracci told Sportsnet that transparency and communication are essential. He’s absolutely right – but he’s not the man to deliver them.
In our CSN interview, Maestracci took issue with my ongoing charge that he hasn’t been a prime mover in the reform movement. He countered – quite emphatically – that years ago he was one of the very first calling for change. Even if that’s so, I would have to counter:
There’s a significant difference between being a father, and being a parent.
Whoever got there first, I have spent plenty of time talking to many different people involved in this governance overhaul. To the last man they do not credit Maestracci as a key contributor. When I told him, at the conclusion of our interview, that he might be very surprised to discover what his people are not telling him, this is a prime example of what I meant.
There’s no dismissing that we got here on Maestracci’s watch, but the actual governance workhorses all want a new president.
And this is where CSA VP Rob Newman enters the picture. The Saskatchewan native is credited by all as one of this nation’s best and brightest champions of reform. He runs a great meeting, and an impressive mass of reform work has been done on his watch.
He’s exactly the guy you want on your team. Steady, solid, good at many things. But is he your captain? I’m not convinced.
The chronic knock on Newman is that he is “not a soccer guy.” I’ve heard those identical four words from many different directions. When I asked him to answer that in our interview, he paused, thought about it, and responded that it depends on what your definition of a soccer guy is.
Okay. Here’s mine:
A soccer guy played the game, lived the game, loves the game and sees the problems facing the game. From grassroots club kick-arounds to World Cup qualifying, he knows exactly where Canada stands and where it needs to go.
By that standard, even I’m not a soccer guy. But I’m not running for CSA president, either.
Canada’s soccer problems are vast, and deeply engrained. We desperately need inspired, passionate, knowing leadership far more than we need beautifully run board meetings.
Which brings us to Victor Montagliani.
I like Victor, but it doesn’t mean he hasn’t ticked me off at times.
This is a guy whose passion for the game fairly explodes when you get him going. This is a man who has served a long career in the insurance business, and knows corporate culture well. He knows you can’t just stroll down to Bay Street and ask for lots of money. He knows he’ll have to transform Canadian soccer into something Canadian business wants to invest in.
Where Rob Newman wants to assist Canada’s pro teams in any way he can, Victor will demand they do more to develop Canadian players. Academies are fine, he’ll tell them, but more roster spots are essential.
And then, of course, comes the whole vexed question of FIFA.
Unindicted FIFA president Sepp Blatter is actually going to drop in on the CSA meetings, falling out of the sky to pose for photos, chat uselessly about the 2015 Women’s World Cup and maybe gift us all with a selection of open-mike gaffes.
But here’s the thing about Canada. Now:
We’re little. We’ve got our World Cup hosting gig, but now we have to heal some very deep neglect and abuse at the most fundamental level. We have to find a new way to create and develop soccer players. This is going to take a decade, at least. While that’s happening, the national teams have to raise their profile. Serious ad money and promotional strategy is needed to make the next Dwayne de Rosario and the next Christine Sinclair household names.
FIFA, and its high-stakes Game of Thrones in Switzerland, is desperately far removed from all that. Sepp Blatter has no lessons to teach us now.
But he is real, and sometimes he has to be dealt with. And until his crumbling, corrupt castle falls, the CSA president is going to need to be a canny combination of both diplomat and street fighter.
Newman’s a diplomat, but I like Victor when the game gets nasty.
For his knowledge of the game, his corporate connections, his greater knowledge of international soccer politics and his sometimes-seething passion for change, Canadian Soccer News proudly endorses Victor Montagliani to be the new president of the Canadian Soccer Association.
Things might be a bit testier in the boardroom, but the game, the business and – above all – the national teams will be the better for it.
Onward!