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    Guest

    WWC links for Sunday

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Sunday's WWC links after the jump:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Germany has been winning ugly so far and Birgit Prinz is not looking like herself

    The worst refereeing decision of all time
    One day female athletes won’t have to get naked to gain attention:
    A Nigerian recap of their failure in Group A. It’s not as dramatic as you’d see in Canada.
    The troops support the US women, who support the troops
    Brunt on what to do now (video):
    Guest
    We'll have a proper Hazard Gallery up tomorrow of the Nutrilite Voyageurs Cup with some classic shots of both teams, but for today here are three images we think represent the day.
    The non-goal, the supporters and the celebration.
    After the jump
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    Hard to argue that. And I dare you to find a better photog than CSN's Chris Hazard

    Apathy? What apathy?

    Champions
    Guest
    While in the bottoms of our hearts we are all shocked and disappointed with the result of the women's national side at the World Cup in Germany, maybe we need to look beyond our own beliefs in equality, justice, and "oh they got so much money for a fancy vacation in Rome and we flipped the bill so we're going to be upset about it!" and think had they won the whole thing would you feel the same way? Would we say all this money was wasted and this should never happen again? The reality of the situation is that in 4 years we will be flipping the bill for a much grander budget and with this being the results driven business that it is; will we settle for less then a semi final? Will we again bitch and moan and cry for blood if our expectations are not met?
    This team came out and every preparation possible was made within the budget that they were allotted to certify that this team would produce the best result. If you want to blame the coach for the result on the field that argument can only go so far because you are only able to play with the cards you are dealt. Your offensive fire power is limited to Christine Sinclair who averages a goal every 1.37 games so her not scoring in the second game is a bit of a no brainer when she's handicapped by a phantom of the opera mask and dizzying headaches. Once you take her out of the equation nobody on the team scores at a pace better then a goal every four games. Morace decided to go with the speedy Jonelle Foligino upfront to compliment Sinclair with workman like attitude to chase down 1 on 1 balls with defenders. Unfortunately Foligino found herself on her hands and knees more often then not. Melissa Tancredi played hard but again is not an all out goal scoring threat more then she is target forward and an aerial weapon on corners and set pieces. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    To say that Sinclair was invisible in this tournament is unfair. In past tournaments however completely justifiable. When it's come down to the important game she was singled out and nullified by strong defences, and had not produced the timely goal when it was needed most. This time around her inability to finish against the French is justifiable due to the physical limitations previously mentioned. To try and tell a Christine Sinclair that she is not going to play in the most important game of her life to date is impossible and that is really the end of that conversation.
    The harsh reality of the situation is that this team broke down defensively. It started in the midfield and the crack went all the way back to the 18 yard box. While Diana Matheson was able to get the occasional shot off on the oppositions goal she has never been known to be an offensive threat. Granted that under Morace's new system she has seen a bump in her offensive production, she was inevitably taken out of the game by both the French and the Germans. Having watched the majority of the Vancouver Whitecaps Women's games last year I can honestly say that the performance of Kaylyn Kyle left much to be desired. No individual play was especially shocking but she was admittedly nervous in the first game and it clearly showed. She was promptly removed at half in the first game after her uncharacteristically poor showing. Now the argument can be made that the W League is nowhere near the level of competition for the UEFA Women's Champions League that the majority of both the French and German squads fought for a few weeks ago, but that is the best competition for Canadian squads in the here and now. Nerves are all I am willing to put it down to. Kelly Parker as a replacement was equally ineffective but she was the best possible replacement from what was available to Morace. This is where the true dilemma arises. Depth.
    Take a quick look at the defensive back line that was used. Beyond the always reliable Candace Chapman, they were all for the most part converted attackers. Rhian Wilkinson as a left back, Brittany Timko as a right back, and even Emily Zurrer as a centre back, those are invariably the best defenders who were available to play in this tournament after Marie Eve Nault and Robyn Gayle failed to answer the bell when Morace called upon them. Candace Chapman is a natural defender and will always be on the team until she decides she's had enough or injuries force her to call it quits, but the other three are not natural defenders, but they are the best that we have to fit that system or were even available to play. Timko won the Golden Boot in the U-20 tournament many moons ago, Rhian Wilkinson has been a winger as far back as anyone can remember and Emily Zurrer was converted to a defender by Ian Bridge when he ran out of options.
    It is very easy to point fingers when you feel that you need someone to blame. The reality is that we all need to point our fingers at ourselves. We need to take a long look in the mirror and say this is just as much my fault as it is theirs. Yeah it will feel stupid to be brushing your teeth and looking deep into your own eyes with disgust and saying "I fucked up" but thats what 16 or so of our friends, sisters, girlfriends, schoolmates, and neighbours are doing right now while we question them, their coach them, their budget, or the association that they play for. These women tried to the best of their abilities to meet our expectations. They all worked with what they were given and fell short of our desires and expectations, but they should all know that they have nothing to be ashamed of.
    Let's get back to this whole business of pointing our fingers at ourselves.
    I'm looking at you. Yes you. The person who is reading this because when it is all said and done you love this game. You care enough to read these articles on a not so flashy but well informed website because you care more then the casual fan. I'm going to assume you love this country and you are as heartbroken as I am to see our squad fail once more when all our own hopes and dreams rested on their shoulders. I bet you were disappointed to see every failure by our Men's sides over the last 2 months as well, be it U-17 or Gold Cup or whatever. We should know better then to place the blame on Peter Montopolli, or Carolina Morace, or Christine Sinclair for these results this week. Part of the blame has to be placed on our failure to act until we have these last 3-4 years. We have stepped up and called the ASA to task, we have gathered in protest to "Sack the CSA", we are finally showing that we truly do SUPPORT LOCAL FOOTBALL, and things are changing. Things are changing a lot faster then the causal observer may ever realize or then the mainstream media would lead them to believe. In this attention deprived world we have created fast is never fast enough for the results we want. We need results and we need them now. If we don't get them immediately somebody damn well better lose their job, or we will flame them to eternity via twitter, facebook, or whatever world wide web outlet is readily available.
    There is a revolution happening. You see it don't you? I assure you that it is happening. It is happening from coast to coast. It is being spearheaded by people like Jason De Vos, Carolina Morace, Paul Barber, Aarron Winter, Richard Grutschholden and all the people who we have handed the reigns over to in the past 2 years. We are finally seeing big business step in and shoulder some of the load that the CSA once had to bear on its own. You need only look as far as the CSL. We are seeing minor league teams rise up from the ashes of soccer hotbeds that have kept the embers burning below the surface by keeping our children engaged in the sport our families brought over to this country before we were even a twinkle in an eye. We are seeing a youth development model that will no longer see the emphasis placed on results but player development. Over the next 6 months we will see an Elite Youth League blossom here in BC lead by Paul Barber and the Vancouver Whitecaps. For years this end of our country has been playing their competitive season at an entirely different time of year simply because the option was there. Whether it benefited the players or not. Which it clearly did not. This is just in BC, while these changes are happening roots are taking hold in a similar form in Ontario lead by Jason De Vos and the Oakville Soccer Club where competitive leagues will be set up in more regionalized groupings with more attention then ever being placed on players getting the appropriate instruction based on their goals and current skill sets. Carolina Morace is doing her best to improve the quality of the women's development system while those two groups seemingly ignore an entire gender.
    If you've read this far I congratulate you because this has really become more of a rant then an article of any sorts and it is probably hard to find any real point to where this is going. I'm not entirely sure where this is going either beyond asking for everyone to just be patient. We are clearly moving in the right direction. Absolutely question everything that you see, you read, and you hear. Stand up for what you believe in, that is what this country is based on, it's ingrained in our collective moral fabric, but remember that 50% of any conversation is listening. Dig a little deeper. That is what really will help the whole situation, be informed, promote dialog, engage in conversation, offer solutions rather then just complain. Then we can spring in to action. Once we've put our personal beliefs aside we can finally work towards one solid goal. Everyone can agree that in the last year we saw a marked improvement in the quality of soccer played by this team and the apparent reality is that the quality has improved elsewhere in the world as well. Our old model was flawed and we realized that finally, so we've made the changes needed to the best of our understanding. In all likelihood it will probably take an entire cycle before we actually can get bitchy about not getting the results we expect. In all reality this revolution with our women's program has only started in the last 2 years. Imagine how different things could be after 6 years of nurturing these seeds we've only just so recently planted.
    We really thought they were world beaters. We the fans. We fuelled the fires that burned in the hearts of these girls and women, fires that probably didn't need to be stoked any more then they already were by their own motivations and desires. They came up short and well you know what? Shit happens. Tough beans. You can only learn from your mistakes, and I can assure you that in 4 years on opening day of the 2015 World Cup, Kaylyn Kyle will not be the one walking out of the tunnel in awe of the giants. She'll be that giant. Her and every other woman dressed in red and white standing beside her.
    Let's all calm down. Lets stay the course on the plan we've set out. Let's all stop pointing fingers at who is to blame and grow from this experience. We have finally been able to place our faith in people who are far more qualified then ourselves to make the decisions that will shape our future. If we are worse off in four years then we are right now then we can point and blame.
    Guest

    Your WWC links for July 2

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The links will continue for the rest of the tournament, but coverage will be reduced with Canada's exit. Saturday's links after the jump.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Morace: No longer walking on water
    Japan: maybe for real!
    Anjali Nayar talks to her step-sister, Canadian defender Rhian Wilkinso
    Cheating doesn’t prosper - Equatorial Guinea booted out of Olympic qualifying
    Refreshing, somehow, that England is always England regardless of gender
    More Canadian soul searching
    “We didn't perform. Bottom line. No excuses. It came down to the players”
    The last word on Canada should really go to Brunt:

    Guest
    The Canadian soccer community gnashes a lot of teeth about the ongoing struggle to achieve a true "home" crowd to support our national teams when they play on Canadian soil. But on Canada Day it's worth pointing out that the support in the stands at Canada matches really isn't related to anything beyond what's happening on the pitch. And for that we should be thankful.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Take the recently completed Gold Cup final. As the action on the field fades slowly into memory, some of the action off of it enjoys a slightly longer shelf life. Here are two excellent reads that summarize some of the alleged "incidents" that took place between Mexico and USA fans at the Rose Bowl one week ago.
    At first glance, there are eerie similarities between what is described in the above accounts and what I have personally witnessed at Canada matches over the past three years. The most striking comparisons would be with the World Cup qualifier against Honduras I attended in Montreal in 2008. Home support preposterously outnumbered and hemmed into a small, poorly policed section of the stadium; beer and other debris hurled between the two sets of supporters; and isolated fistfights breaking out at the fringes of the Canada supporters' section, especially after the match.
    Not exactly a pleasant experience for those simply wanting to cheer on their country in their country. But the more I thought about what I remember from these games (and to be fair, I was pretty juiced at all of them) and the events described at the Rose Bowl, I settled upon some important differences.
    The following excerpt from FBM's recount of the Gold Cup final puts the USA-Mexico rivalry in important context.
    This is why I am endlessly fascinated by Mexico versus the United States on the soccer pitch. It is a contemporary and historical faultline; a serious and proper division in society being played out by 22 men and a ball. Mexico and the U.S. have a loooong mutual history, much of it rather unpleasant. The El Tri fans can talk all they want about how they are "booing the team and not the country" and that whistling and jeering during the Star-Spangled Banner is just blowing off steam, but I've got to suspect that it all goes just a little bit deeper than that.Feel free to disagree with me in the comment section, but at recent Canada matches I don't recall any supporters in opposite colours booing O'Canada or the Canadian players, at least not on any sort of widespread and noticeable level. Mostly it was either standing in silence or polite applause. Sure, there were some punches thrown during the Peru game at BMO Field last year, but I'm choosing to see that as nothing more than drunken boisterousness.
    While USA-Mexico or say, France-Algeria, highlight divisions in society, the away support at Canada matches simply highlights differences in society. For the segment of Canada's population whose ancestors trail back more than a few generations, soccer just isn't really a thing yet. Maybe it never will be. And we all know that the game is mostly ignored or ridiculed in mainstream media. I honestly believe that most people pulling on an Ecuador or Peru or whatever shirt and heading down to a stadium in Toronto or Montreal to cheer on the Old Country versus Canada don't view it remotely as an act of betrayal, but simply participating in something the vast majority of people they interact with on a daily basis aren't even aware of.
    This is not some kind of morality wank about how Canadian society is superior to its American neighbour, or anywhere else. I know Canada is not utopia. Between the disastrous situation many First Nation peoples live in, the unresolved Quebec question and the fact that people immigrate to this country and then end up driving taxis are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to social divisions and injustices. There are plenty of bitter Canadians.
    The Canadian soccer community's ongoing quest for sustained, widespread home support will probably be "ongoing" for quite some time. But beyond providing people such as me with a topic to flog to death in the absence of other ideas, the continuing majority support for the "other" team represents something we should perhaps curse silently but then then stop to consider. We're lucky here in Canada, that for the most part the divisions in the stands at our national team matches don't extend very far beyond them.
    Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons, USA-Mexico border near Tijuana
    Guest
    One game for all the marbles.
    Again.
    After slugging through a rain-drenched, lightning-filled abandoned championship game back in May, Toronto and Vancouver are set to do it all over again. This time, there will be no rain and thunderstorms.
    Hopefully.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The two teams meet up only three days after an ugly 1-0 TFC win on Wednesday night, a match which featured sub-optimal lineups for both sides, although the reasoning behind each team's starting XI was vastly different for Tom Soehn than it was for Aron Winter.
    Soehn, the Vancouver GM-turned-coach, sent out a decidedly second-choice lineup for Wednesday night's MLS match, electing to throw a bunch of kids and reserves in hopes of resting his bigger guns for the more meaningful weekend affair. It would have been a fine strategy, except that he didn't really seem to stick to it, instead choosing to insert Eric Hassli, Camilo, and Nizar Khalfan into the match in the second half.
    It came across as though Soehn hadn't really decided between prioritizing the Voyageurs Cup finale over the mid-season MLS match, instead choosing to half-ass both in some sort of panicky "oh shit, I thought our B teamers would be able to steal three points from an injury-ravaged TFC side" move. Khalfan's inclusion was no big deal, but Hassli and Camilo's second half entries had to have raised some eyebrows amoung Whitecaps faithful, who saw their two biggest available offensive threats exposed to potential injury ahead of a massive championship game (especially with midfield magician Davide Chiumiento ruled out with a hamstring strain).
    Perhaps even more disheartening for 'Caps fans was the utter ineffectiveness displayed by Hassli and Camilo -- both of whom have feasted on TFC in previous meetings -- when they did sub on. TFC's on-loan right back Richard Eckersley, thrown into the middle by pure necessity, handled Hassli almost too easily, helped in no small part by the rest of TFC's players choking the service to Vancouver big striker, leaving the Frenchman with very little to do for most of his 45 minutes on the pitch.
    Camilo was similarly ordinary, relegated to taking poor angle shots from the wing which amounted to nothing. Hardly inspired stuff from the Brazilian.
    In any case, expect both Camilo and Hassli in the starting lineup Saturday afternoon, alongside Jay DeMerit, Terry Dunfield, Joe Cannon, Jonathan Leathers, and maybe even Chiumiento. All represent the cavalry that will ride in and significantly strengthen the Whitecaps from the lackluster side that played mid-week.
    Surprisingly, Toronto -- forced to lean on the same core of players game in and game out through an awful injury spell --may have a cavalry of their own.
    No, new designated players Torsten Frings and Danny Koevermans will not be suiting up for TFC (they can't until July 15th in accordance with the CSA/USSF transfer window). Instead, a handful of the Reds' walking wounded could be available for the match.
    Julian de Guzman, Tony Tchani, Alan Gordon, Maicon Santos, and Jacob Peterson all may be included in Winter's squad for the final, with JDG and Tchani looking the most likely candidates to participate. It's not exactly an earth-shattering list, and Toronto's biggest ailment continues to be at central defender, but if one, two, or all of the above players can take part, Toronto should look a more composed and experienced -- and dangerous, should the returnees include Gordon and/or Santos -- side.
    The Reds head into Saturday's matinee holding a slight advantage thanks to a late away goal scored in the first leg at Vancouver (which seems like eons ago), so look for the 'Caps to press from the opening whistle, just like they did in the cancelled return leg, in order to gain the upper hand.

    Toronto FC v. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
    Saturday, July 2, 2011. 12:30pm EDT / 9:30pm PDT.
    BMO Field. Toronto, ON.
    Watch: Rogers Sportsnet ONE, NCC Official Stream
    Listen: TEAM 1040 AM (Vancouver), FAN590.com, teamradio.ca

    Rudi Schuller occasionally contributes Toronto FC and Canadian national team content to the 24th Minute. He manages the Euro File here at Canadian Soccer News, and is MLSsoccer.com's beat writer for all things concerning Canada's men's national teams. Follow Rudi on Twitter, @RudiSchuller.
    Guest

    No show today

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    There will be no show today. We're having some tech problems with our recording/broadcasting software.
    We hope to have Marc Weber of the Province back on the show on Monday to recap the Toronto v Vancouver game Saturday.
    My apologies
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    One day later and it still doesn’t make a a lot of sense. For months we’ve been told that the Canadian women were legitimate darkhorses to go deep in the World Cup. Anyone that questioned that logic – not that there were many that did – had the preparation results thrown in their face.
    Only two losses in 14 games, with 11 wins. Make it four losses now and out of the World Cup in less than a week. The storylines in traditional media went from “Ah shucks aren’t these Canadian gals special,” to “Canada once against historically terrible at Soccer, but NHL free agency starts today.”
    In some ways it might have been better to not have qualified.
    So, the question needs to be asked: What the hell went wrong?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The answer to that question depends on your perspective. However, we can basically break it down into three different possible positions. You either think it’s Carolina Morace’s fault, the CSA’s, or the players.
    The arguments:
    Carolina Morace
    Suddenly she doesn’t seem like the genius we’ve been told she was. She demanded to have full control over the team in the preparation and it’s difficult to see how she didn’t get just that. Twice in the last six months the women set-up shop in Europe for an extended camp. They played tournaments in Cyprus, China and Brazil. Money – real money – was spent.
    In short, this is Morace’s team, prepared in her way and, as such, she needs to take responsibility for their performance.
    Two months ago, I asked whether Morace should be fired if Canada failed to advance from the group in Germany. In that article I concluded the following:
    That was written with the assumption that failure to advance would come after a hard fought and tough loss to France. No one imagined the capitulation we saw yesterday. In the most important game of Morace’s career, her team was out performed in every aspect of the game – and that includes coaching.The CSA and Morace agreed to stay together through to the end of the Olympics. There is enough positives to keep that commitment, but it is more than fair for the CSA to demand real results from her in London. Let’s remember that this World Cup was the first major international tournament that she has qualified for as a coach – a record that includes her failure as coach of the Canadian u20 side that did not go to Germany last year. Football is about results. It’s time we objectively focused on Morace’s results, rather than her cult of personality.
    The CSA
    Old habits die hard and the CSA makes an easy and predictable target. And, the organization does need to share some of the blame. They hired Morace. They agreed to the plan that she put in place and they are responsible for the system-wide problems that continue to bedevil the sport.
    However, Peter Montopoli was not in the dressing room at half-time against France. It’s not the Board of Directors fault that the team caved at the first sign of adversity, or that the coaching staff appeared to make no meaningful adjustments.
    If you are a blind defender of Morace and the women, you could make the argument that the CSA caused the team too much distraction by failing to live-up to promises about control. And, maybe you’re right. However, it’s time that those accusations were backed up with facts – identifiable and provable facts.
    Your Sack the CSA t-shirt will be four years old this September. A lot has changed in the organization since that night. There still needs to be more change, but blindly blaming everything on the CSA is starting to become a bit too easy.
    The players
    Like the men in the disastrous 2010 qualifying campaign, the players need to take a lot of the responsibility. The best defence of Morace is that the players forgot everything she taught them at the first sign of adversity. Ultimately, they were the ones punting the ball up the pitch. Even Christine Sinclair, the warrior that she very much is, has to be questioned. She must have known that she couldn’t perform anywhere near her capabilities. That was clear; she was invisible.
    Old habits die hard and the combination of years of Even Pellerud, winning focused youth clubs and, in many cases, NCAA punt and chase can’t be fully flushed out in three years. In some cases the players just aren’t good enough. That’s a harsh reality that isn’t pleasant to face or nice to talk about, but one that needs to be understood.
    There is a fourth level of blame that hasn’t been talked about – the pro clubs (Vancouver gets a slight pass here, but not fully). Morace, like every other national team coach – men or women – before her has talked about the need for a pro league in the country. We all know what prevents that. However, an argument can be made that the three biggest pro clubs should all be in the pro women’s game too – and not at the W-League level, but rather at WPS. Yes, it’s struggling now, but the Canadian teams do well financially and would help stabilize it. If there were three fully professional women’s teams in Canada it would go a long way to making the players better and that, in turn, would make the national team truly competitive.
    The only positive that can be taken from the way this World Cup has turned out is that it didn’t happen in 2015. We have four years to make sure there isn’t a repeat performance.
    In the days ahead we will look at what needs to happen.
    Guest
    In the aftermath of Canada's disastrous loss to France at the Women's World Cup, CanWNT veteran Sasha Andrews -- who trained with the team in the lead-up to Germany 2011, and played for Canada at the 2003 WWC -- joins us for an interview. She tells us what went wrong for Canada at the tournament, where the program goes from here in the run-up to Canada 2015, and shares her thoughts on Carolina Morace.
    The Sasha Andrews interview (mp3)
    Subscribe to the Some Canadian Guys iTunes feed
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    In the days ahead we will be taking a serious look at the current state of the Canadian women’s national team. Today, however, is not that time.
    Today is a time for fans of the program to mourn. So much was expected of this team and there was an underlying hope that success for the women could help propel the sport forward.
    In the end, the men’s 1-1-1 Gold Cup performance was actually better than what the women managed. All the progress – Cyprus Cup wins, CONCACAF championships – doesn’t matter today. The average fan doesn’t care; they only care about the World Cup
    It was particularly sad that they played so poorly at a time when so many people were paying attention. Instead of a new age and confidence for Canadian football, it’s more of the same.
    And that sucks.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It’s been a hard couple of years for the sport here in Canada. With both club and country struggling it can be more than a bit discouraging. So, no one is going to blame anyone today if they wish to wallow in self-pity. Hoist a few pints, punch something (soft, preferably -- and not living) or even shed a tear.
    But after you’re done be willing to cast a critical eye at the women. Bluntly, they have been treated with kid gloves throughout the build up to this tournament. That does no one any good.
    As stated, I don’t expect that type of sober reflection today though. Today is not a day to be making decisions – at least not rational ones.
    Today, be a fan.
    Guest
    Canadian Soccer News will have a live chat running during today's crucial Canada v. France match at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
    The match kicks off just after 12:00pm EDT / 9:00am PDT, so join us to discuss the match, Christine Sinclair's superhero tendencies, or whatever else springs to mind.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=e0e7b21b44/height=550/width=470" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="470px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=e0e7b21b44" >CANvFRA Women's World Cup</a></iframe>
    Match will be broadcast live on CBC and cbcsports.ca.
    Guest

    Your daily WWC links

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Your daily links below the jump:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Jason de Vos tells us what he’s seen so far

    Jennifer Doyle takes Spain to task for its failure to support women’s football:
    An African report on the under-reported story of Nigeria’s coach’s attempt to rid the team of lesbians.

    The Guardian laments the lack of goals so far

    This guy doesn’t like the WWC. You might be surprised as to why.

    Can a loss be a win? Some in Australia think do.
    Guest
    Today, we break down both the Toronto FC win and Canada's shocking loss at the World Cup.
    With Toronto, we talk about the new signings and what they'll mean to the club as well as take an eye towards Saturday and what Vancouver resting 8 players could mean.
    With Canada, we'll ask the tough question: what happens to Carolina Morace? And is the long term development plan being implemented quick enough?
    It's not all doom and gloom, but we will get into some issues that have yet to have been given a critical eye.
    The archived show is now up
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <embed src="http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/FlowPlayerLight.swf?config={embedded:true,videoFile:%27http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/download/2540/24206/jun302011final.mp3%27,initialScale:%27scale%27,controlBarBackgroundColor:%270x778899%27,autoBuffering:false,loop:false,autoPlay:false}" width="400" height="25" scale="fit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
    Guest
    In the past 36 hours, I’ve been told by a youth soccer coach in the Toronto suburbs, and by a high-ranking official with a Major League Soccer team, that the Canadian A-licence for soccer coaching puts too much emphasis on fitness and nutrition, and not enough on tactics and man-management.
    I’ve also been told – multiple times, including by a former member of the Canadian men’s national soccer team – that Canadian coaching licences are “worthless” outside of Canada.
    These are some of the very early (still off-the-record because it’s all preliminary) results from Canadian Soccer News’s new probe into coaching development in Canada.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It’s especially interesting, when you ask informed folks about this issue, how often and how quickly they start talking politics. “This province runs that;” “These two or three provinces run everything;” “The old boys’ network makes all the decisions about who gets national-team jobs.”
    Those are just fished off the clipboard, more or less at random. There certainly isn’t any shortage of qualified people out there who believe coaching certification in this country is:
    - Weak
    - Obsolete
    - Political
    - Next-to-useless if you’ve got real ambition
    One coach told me he’s only putting up with the process because he’d like to work in the national program. Another ambitious candidate – with a scheming glint in his eye – says he’s thinking of bypassing the Canadian program entirely, then daring the national teams to exclude him.
    (And that’ll be a fine story when it happens, believe you me!)
    A huge part of the problem, of course, is that Canada is a vast nation with only four professional soccer clubs. That severely limits the number of home-grown, experienced, Canadian pro coaches. The overwhelming majority of people who take their coaching certification here aren’t even looking to join top-flight teams. Instead, they want to work for youth clubs, or maybe try their hand at the college game in the CIS.
    As mentioned a few days ago, I’m at the start of an extensive series of stories and interviews on what’s wrong – and right – with the ways Canada creates soccer coaches. How does it stack up to other countries? Why are there next-to-zero Canadians coaching in the top ranks of the global game?
    There are lots of stories out there – many tinged with frustration and anger. I want to hear as many as I can.
    So …
    If you’ve been through – or are still going through – the Canadian coaching-certification program, Canadian Soccer News wants to hear your story.
    What worked? What didn’t? What helped you? What’s driving you nuts?
    I’m only interested in stories you can sign your name to. Anonymous whining isn’t going to get published – although the odd anonymous tip certainly can come in handy.
    Your story won’t automatically become part of this series, but if it does I will certainly consult and confirm with you before your name ever gets mentioned in print.
    The goal – as always – is to shine a bright and constant light on the situation, see where the shadows are, and maybe even blow up some barriers and bad habits that don’t need to be there. We’re also looking for some real, unsung heroes of the Canadian game, doing excellent work despite all the odd, unique restrictions the Canadian system has always been hemmed in by.
    If no one ever listened to you before, CSN is listening to you now.
    benknight103 at yahoo.ca
    Onward!
    Also in this series:
    - Canadian coaching: a new CSN investigation
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