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    Guest
    It's no big secret that the Vancouver Whitecaps are in the market for a piece of land with which to build their clubhouse and training facilities on. Multiple local news papers have been reporting that their respective community leaders have been in talks with the Whitecaps front office with regards to a national training and development facility.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    ...but time is of the essence...
    When asked about the current training facility situation, Bob Lenarduzzi was quoted as saying "The timeline was yesterday. We would like to conclude something as soon as possible.”
    I'm sick of hearing about how Fiorintina and AC Milan are playing in Montreal and Philadelphia, or Everton going all over hells half acre and we get nobody because we don't have the proper facilities to host them.
    These are only potential sites at this point, I also threw in a bonus of the proposed Delta Facility that was shot down earlier this year!
    8 Rinks Sports Complex, Burnaby
    -Word on the street is that this is one of the front runners for the $31 million project. The trip lasts 48 minutes via public transit from BC Place which I randomly chose as a central landmark for anyone downtown. Ideally the most direct route of driving is supposed to take you around 20 minutes. That's according to Google Maps Directions, and I'm sure we all know that it's not always the most accurate source. I think you could probably shave 5 minutes off the drive if you took Venables for as long as possible through the higher traffic zones as you went east from the city.
    Burnaby Lake is actually in The Central Valley Corridor at the bottom of Burnaby Mountain (aka Suicide Hill) on the North. Swangard, Metrotown, and Central Park sit to the South at the top of another ridge.
    It rained up at SFU for just about every Whitecaps PDL game last year, it's miserable up there in the spring. As far as housing the pdl, youth teams, and most of the women's team, SFU is probably the best deal around. There is a bus that could take the players from SFU Residence down to Production Way train station and then transit isn't too bad from there on out. There's a bit of a walk from Sperling Skytrain Station though.
    Supposedly the ground isn't all that great for building on down in the valley since it's so damp. Beyond that the Mayor of Burnaby has said that city council isn't all that keen on selling the land to a private interest group as it is heavily used by the public. In a column by Wanda Chow, of The Burnaby NewsLeader, Burnaby's Mayor Derek Corrigan went so far as to say "“It would be unlikely we would sell to a private interest, but never say never.”
    Delta Site at Hwy 91 and Hwy 10
    - Of all the options it was probably the best land to build on as far as building foundations for structures, the overall terrain, and usable topsoil is concerned. Burnaby Lakes is in a river valley, and well... it rains here alot. Especially at the top of the mountain that drains into the valley where the club is persuing. Richmond is in a river delta and the soil is incredibly sandy, construction costs would be higher then at Hwys 90 and 10. Lastly Surrey is a heavily developed piece of land. I would imagine that a large portion of the costs to developing this land further would have to do with demolition of buildings and facilities.
    As far as travel goes...while it was at a fairly major crossroads, the Delta Facility would have received a fail. It's too far from the airport to even bother calculating, It's a 30 minute drive from BC place. I would have to imagine that those are in ideal circumstances. Those ideal times are rare. Bridge and tunnel traffic is a nightmare, and one of the most frequent causes of congestion on the city's major routes. Transit doesn't really run anywhere near the location either. That would certainly make things very difficult for youth players to get to the facility from Simon Fraser.
    Garden City Park in Richmond
    - With regards to the project Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said he was unaware of any discussions involving the Whitecaps. But according to the Richmond Review, they are in the running. While Richmond is fairly flat, the soil composition is pretty sandy. Apparently it's a pain in the rear to build there. From what I've been told, if there was ever an earthquake in Vancouver, Richmond would be screwed. Supposedly buildings would just sink into the sand. I don't know how much validity there is to this, but its kind of a neat visual to picture a bunch of leaning tower of Pisa style buildings. I like the Richmond location the most of all the potential spots for a couple reasons though. It is incredibly close to the Airport. A mere 13 minute drive. Transit also runs from the airport to within walking distance of the site.
    The facilities that were once the Olympic Oval have now been transformed into a fitness facility so clearly Richmond has health and well being on the mind these days.
    The proximity to the airport would make travel arrangements way easier for everyone. Trialists could stay in any number of the hotels that line Hwy 99. If the club housed its youth players in the neighbourhood on the Canada Line between Broadway City Hall, and Olympic Village (where they housed their USSF D2 squad last year) they would be on the transit line and it would be just over a 30 minute journey for them on the Canada Line to Lansdowne Station, and then just a short walk.
    "On March 31, 2010, the City of Richmond concluded the purchase of the Garden City Lands from the Canada Lands Company (CLC) Ltd. and Musqueam Indian Band. Richmond made a good faith offer to purchase the lands for $59.17 million which was agreed to by Musqueam and CLC."
    Cloverdale Exhibition Grounds
    -Surrey is far from everything. It would be a 44 minute drive under perfect conditions. Again those perfect conditions are rare. Cars coming from Mapleridge, Langley and Pitt Medows always cause chaos from the Mary Hill Bypass till the Burnaby/Coquitlam boarder. That's a crappy chunk of road to travel during rush hour, but luckily training sessions would likely go against the flow of traffic, but rubberneckers are always a pain. It is incredibly far from the airport and it's an hour and a half from Stadium Skytrain Station via transit. The land is already heavily developed. Beyond that there's not a whole lot going on in Surrey these days. In my eyes it's the least realistic of the 3 sites.
    So those are your main candidates for potential locations of the Whitecaps and National Training Facility, what do you think?
    Guest

    Oh those crazy Poles

    By Guest, in Euro File,

    With a hat tip to the wonderfully irreverent Who Ate All The Pies, a clip of the craziest u12 fans you will ever see.
    Below the jump:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]


    Lech Poznań FTW
    Guest

    Don't make them beg

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Canadian women's international Kaylyn Kyle wrote that on her Twitter feed early Saturday morning (and appeared to take it down not long after...). It's telling that a Canadian player would be thinking about ways to get more support for her team. It's sad that she's concerned about it one day before the team is to play Brazil in the championship game of the Torneio Internacional Cidade de São Paulo.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The lack of corporate support for Canadian soccer continues to be a problem. As I wrote during the World Cup it's a bit irritating to see much of corporate Canada tripping over itself to be associated with the tournament while ignoring the sport domestically.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1COKBnMd7A
    The Rogers ad at the back end of the video is a good example of the phenomenon. The office went crazy when Spain scored. I can't find a clip of it, but a CIBC ad in which average Canadians that work for the bank told the camera what country they support was the worst offender. None of the employees, of course, said Canada and, of course, CIBC was nowhere to be found during Canada’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
    On the women's side of things it's even worse. Women's sport never gets the type of attention that the men's game does. Although we shouldn't be too critical of any company that does chose to attach itself to the team the Winners deal that is in place is clearly not enough. If it was then Kyle wouldn't be on Twitter on a Saturday morning looking for support.
    During the World Cup I asked people to write me at dgrollins@gmail.com about why you think corporate Canada should do more to support the game in the country. About 50 people did. By all means keep sending me letters and once I have enough (let's say 100) I will forward them on to a few appropriate companies.
    Clearly 100 e-mails from a crazy blogger isn't going to do much on its own. As supporters of Canadian national teams you need to convince corporate Canada that it's worth their time to hitch themselves to the home team rather than living vicariously through the rest of the world.
    And then maybe we wouldn't have midfielders looking for money on Twitter.
    Guest

    Men's player of the year

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The 2010 Canadian men's player of the year is Atiba Hutchinson.
    With the national team playing a year without important games the award came down to club play. On that front there were few equals in 2010 than the 27-year-old Brampton native. It was his first win.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It's hard to think of a Canadian player that`s had as much club success as Hutchinson in a single year -- perhaps only Owen Hargreaves, since, as I like to remind those that argue that he would never have had the success he had if he had chosen to represent Canada, he was still Canadian when he won the Champions League in 2001.
    In 2010, Hutchinson won the Danish SuperLiga double, transferred to PSV, was named the SuperLiga's player of the year and has started 17 of 18 games for PSV, who sits on top of the table and has qualified for the knock-out stage of the Europa League.
    The only other player that might have had an argument is Josh Simpson, but his list of accomplishments can be summed up in two words ("he's scoring") as opposed to the paragraph needed for Hutchinson.
    As with the women's award, the CSA got this right. Hutchinson continues to improve and has clearly bypassed Julian de Guzman as the country's best player. The media voters continue to get it right too by following the unwritten rule that the only players given consideration are those that chose to represent Canada internationally.
    Hutchinson was very appreciative of winning. He named it as one of the highlights of his career during the press conference today. He was also bullish on the national team's chances in next year's Gold Cup and spoke of the need for the nats to play more home friendlies to help prepare them for home qualifying games.
    Guest
    For our year-in-review podcast series, we spoke to soccer fans from across the country about their experiences during 2010. A new episode will be released on this site and via our iTunes feed every day, leading up to our own year-in-review special on December 28.
    In the second installment of this series, we head up to Yellowknife to meet "The Territorial Terror" Chris Van Dyke, who gives credit where it's due to some key members of the Canadian men's national team, tells us what it's like to be (probably) the only Sunderland supporter in the territory, and explains how he got his fierce-sounding nickname (which, in fairness, he was given by us during the course of recording the podcast).
    Download the episode directly, or subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. Tomorrow, we continue our territorial tour in Part 3.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest

    Not enough leaders on TFC: Nick Garcia

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Likely out going TFC defender Nick Garcia says that the biggest problem with the Reds last year was a lack of leadership on the pitch.
    Although he was not specific in placing blame he suggested that very few TFC players stepped up and made themselves heard when things started to get tough.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    "It's the multi-billion dollar question -- what was wrong with TFC," he said. "I think it boils down to communication. There were not enough veteran guys on the field guiding and leading the team."
    He says that he notices a change in attitude from when he was a young player to players breaking in to today. Young players don't seem to show any desire to be vocal.
    "They seem to spend all their time text messaging or on Twitter. No one wants to speak up."
    Garcia shuns fan boards and most social media and suggests that more players should follow suit and focus more on football.
    Less distractions make for a more mentally tough player. A lack of mental toughness is the root of a lot of TFC's problems, he says. That's especially the case on the road where TFC continues to be woeful.
    "It comes down to the mental approach guys take,” he says. "The hassle of traveling commercial, not sleeping in your own bed -- If guys are a little mentally weak it can be pretty tough."
    Garcia wasn't claimed on Wednesday's re-entry draft, but says he expects to play two-more years. He spoke more about his future plans for an article I prepared for MLSsoccer.com.
    Left out of that article were discussions of his salary expectations. Garcia said that he is only looking to be compensated fairly based on what his role ends up playing.
    "If I mostly start I want to be paid as a starter. If I'm a reserve player, I understand I should be paid as one."
    He understands that he's at the point of his career when his salary will begin to drop and has planned for that.
    Guest

    Europa draw

    By Guest, in Euro File,

    Fortunately today’s Europa League draw has spared us from two months of Young Boys in Man City jokes – the English favourites (yes, I went there) drew Greek side Aris and Young Boys are going to Russia to play former and controversial winners Zenit St. Petersburg. Also of interest may be Atiba Hutchinson’s PSV draw against Lille and Liverpool’s match-up with Sparta Prague.
    The full draw and round of 16 brackets below the jump:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Benfica - Stuttgart
    Vs.
    BATE - Paris Saint-Germain
    Beşiktaş - Dynamo Kyiv
    Vs.
    Aris - Manchester City
    Rubin Kazan – Twente
    Vs.
    Young Boys - Zenit St. Petersburg
    PAOK - CSKA Moscow
    Vs.
    Sevilla - Porto
    Lille - PSV Eindhoven
    Vs.
    Rangers - Sporting CP
    Metalist Kharkiv - Bayer Leverkusen
    Vs.
    Napoli - Villarreal
    Anderlecht – Ajax
    Vs.
    Basel - Spartak Moscow
    Sparta Prague – Liverpool
    Vs.
    Lech Poznań - Braga
    Round of 32 games go February 17 and 24, with the round of 16 being played March 10 and 17.
    Guest
    Rumour has it that the Vancouver Whitecaps will be heading back south of the border this spring to continue their training in preparation for their first season in Major League Soccer.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The 'Caps spent a couple weeks last spring at the Casa Grande, Az. training venue. While they were there, they played against the likes of Real Salt Lake, Seattle, and Chicago. They even managed to pull off a victory against defending MLS Champions Real Salt Lake. Mind you RSL played an entirely different team in the second half than what they did in the first.
    Look for confirmation on this rumour later today.
    It seems like a pretty cool little desert oasis, a couple of the amenities include,
    -58,000-square-foot performance facility dedicated to athletes and their coaches
    -Six soccer fields built and lighted to professional standards
    -Two additional soccer fields will be open in Spring 2010, as well as a running track and a lap pool plus two therapy pools
    -Four locker rooms for 70 athletes each, plus separate coaches' locker rooms and offices
    -Physical therapy rooms adjacent to locker rooms
    -Up to 16 classroom/meeting rooms with multimedia capability
    -10,000 square foot performance training space
    -Fitness and conditioning expertise available from Athletes' Performance
    -Physical therapy and rehabilitation available from Proaxis Therapy
    -Nutritionist on staff
    For more information on the facilities Click Here
    Map was courtesy of Big Arizona
    Guest
    The following is the official release from the Southsiders, Vancouver's Supporters Group.
    We feel there are tremendous benefits to be gained by hosting as many visiting supporters in Vancouver as possible, because it is the rival supporters groups singing back and forth across the stadium that will turn Vancouver’s quiet spectators into lifelong supporters who shout their hearts out every match.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Our hope has always been that Vancouver could open its doors to more than 500 visitors, because we know the Timbers Army and ECS already have the numbers to fill twice that many seats. As a result, I suspect many of their fans caught outside the lucky 500 will be seeking additional seats anywhere they can get them, and this is a scenario which opens the door for potential security issues between rival fans seated next to each other.
    That said, the fans of all three Cascadia cities are generally top notch, and they are not the sort to go looking for trouble. However, one only needs to look at a Canucks or BC Lions game to see what happens when you mix alcohol with rival fans sitting near each other. We have always said that the best security policy is one which contains visiting fans in one area, and strictly limits their contact with the home side. It’s not rocket science – it’s common sense. The league would do well to re-evaluate these numbers after the 2011 season, and look to Europe for examples of resolving these issues. There’s no need to re-invent the wheel.
    As for Vancouver’s fans, I think 500 seats at Qwest and PGE are a good starting point to build on. Our city’s supporters culture is essentially in its infancy, and it will be up to us to demonstrate that we can completely sell those seats out before we are in a position to be asking for more.
    I have asked the Whitecaps to provide clarification on four points:
    1) What sections will away fans be seated in at each of the three cities?
    2) What is the process for allocating away tickets to supporters?
    3) Will the Whitecaps be adding any fees or pricing mark-ups to the cost of the away seats in Portland and Seattle?
    4) Do the Whitecaps have any plans to get involved on the transportation side of the issue (i.e. organizing buses and accommodation)?
    I hope to have some of those answers soon. In the meantime, the Southsiders are looking forward to shaking the league to its core with this rivalry. There is no question that the Cascadia Cup Derby is going to elevate the MLS to a whole new level of credibility, and we’re looking forward to taking Vancouver’s fans along for the ride.
    John Knox, Spokesman
    Vancouver Southsiders
    Guest
    Everyone`s favourite secondary club football tournament finished it's group stage today and the stage is set for tomorrow's draw. The 24 teams that advanced from the groups are:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    A 1st - Manchester City, 2nd - Lech Poznań (Poland)
    B 1st -Bayer Leverkusen, 2nd - Aris
    C 1st -Sporting CP, 2nd -Lille
    D 1st -Villarreal, 2nd -PAOK
    E 1st -Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), 2nd -BATE (Belarus)
    F 1st -CSKA Moscow, 2nd -Sparta Prague
    G 1st -Zenit St. Petersburg, 2nd -Anderlecht
    H 1st -Stuttgart, 2nd -Young Boys
    I 1st -PSV Eindhoven 2nd -Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
    J 1st -Paris Saint-Germain, 2nd -Sevilla
    K 1st -Liverpool, 2nd -Napoli
    L 1st -Porto, 2nd -Beşiktaş
    There is Canadian content in there with Atiba Hutchinson's PSV still in the mix.
    The 24 teams are joined by the eight third place finishers in the Champions League group stage. They are:
    F Spartak Moscow
    H Braga
    G Ajax
    A Twente
    D Rubin Kazan
    E Basel
    C Rangers
    B Benfica
    Group leaders and the top four third place cross-over teams are seeded. Tomorrow's draw will determine the round of 32 and 16 match-ups.
    Now everyone do the Poznań*
    Note: I'm providing the basic Europa details here because the tournament is less reported on in Canada than the Champions League. We all know who is still in the Champions League and, besides, Rudi's got it covered
    * City reference.
    Guest

    Sinclair and the shush

    By Guest, in Some Canadian Guys,

    (Photo credit: CanadaSoccer.com/Mexsport)
    It's a rare treat for Canadian soccer supporters to witness a national team player indulging in a moment of sheer triumph at the expense of an opponent and its fans. Two years ago, that defining moment came when a shirtless Tomasz Radzinski leaned against the corner flag to taunt traveling Mexican fans in Edmonton. The glory of that moment was tempered, however, by the fact that the World Cup qualifier in which it took place was, for Les Rouges, meaningless.
    This year we were treated yet again, in a moment of unreserved triumph: upon scoring the goal to put Big Red ahead in the Gold Cup semifinal, captain Christine Sinclair turned to a riled-up Mexican crowd, put her finger to her lips and shushed them. A Canadian player shushed the Mexican fans, in Mexico.
    So when I had a chance to speak to Sinclair on Thursday morning, on the occasion of her sixth consecutive coronation as Canadian female player of the year, I just had to ask about that moment.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    "You see it in Europe all the time," she started, after a hearty laugh at the fact that anyone would bother to bring it up.
    "(It was) a very hostile crowd ... obviously they're hostile towards us, and to be able to beat them on their home soil... I don't know what was going through my mind. ... I've been talking about this confidence that our team has, this belief in ourselves and belief in our team and in our coaching staff... it just came out. We're a really good team."
    I really like that answer, for a very simple reason. It wasn't a pre-planned bit of choreography, it wasn't something meant to specifically mock or deride the opponent, and it certainly wasn't something that you'd normally expect from Sinclair, or any other player suiting up in the red and white.
    It was a spontaneous explosion of pride and, as she said, confidence.
    It was a "shut up" not just to those rowdy, crude fans in attendance on that night. It was a "shut up" to those who would doubt the team, and the sport, in this country. A "shut up" to the talking heads and blowhards who recycle the same arguments about soccer not mattering, or women's sports not mattering, or both.
    It was the defining moment of 2010 in Canadian soccer because it established a new tenor, a new mood amongst those of us who follow and love the game. The time when we shirk away from our pride in our teams, and our sport, is over. The time when we're apologetic for investing time and energy into our national teams in a still-developing sport is over.
    Those who feel the need to demean or diminish the sport or our teams can, in Sinclair's words -- or rather, gestures -- shut the hell up.
    Now, sure, I'm imbuing Sinclair's unplanned gesture (and her explanation for it) with all sorts of subtext that she probably didn't intend. But what can't be denied is the surging wave of confidence being felt within our national program -- specifically the senior women's team under Carolina Morace.
    Asked about Canada's chances at next year's Women's World Cup, our captain said: "We can beat any team in the world if we play well."
    No dithering. No equivocating. No "ah, shucks, well, we'll give it 110% and see what happens." That statement -- as much as the shush -- is a clear sign that Big Red has arrived.
    So, sure, the shush down in Mexico was nice. Next spring in Germany, we may see an even nicer one, courtesy of our still-reigning player of the year.
    Guest

    Grass green

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Christine Sinclair was once again named Canada's female footballer of the year.
    It's a predictable choice, but it's also the correct one. No player comes close to Sinclair's skill and importance in the game. Within context, she is the most successful soccer player this country has ever produced (unless you can tell me what Canadian man was ever in the top 10 in the world) and, outside of hockey, probably the best female athlete competing in a team sport this country has ever seen.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    An argument can be made that she is the most successful non-hockey team sport athlete, period. Steve Nash would be in the discussion, Fergie Jenkins and a bunch of old school CFLers as well (the CFL was every bit as good as the NFL in the black and white era).
    Since 2002 Sinclair has scored 254 goals in total for her college, pro and national team. If a soccer player is ever going to win the Lou Marsh award, it will likely be her. Giving the player of the year award to any other player right now would be tokenism. I'm sure the other women would agree.
    Sinclair is women's football in this country right now. So, yes, the award is predictable and boring, but also well deserved.
    Guest
    For our year-in-review podcast series, we spoke to soccer fans from across the country about their experiences during 2010. A new episode will be released on this site and via our iTunes feed every day, leading up to our own year-in-review special on December 28.
    We start the series on the west coast – in Vancouver, to be exact – with a fellow who’s likely familiar to many readers of this site. A long-time supporter of local and national soccer, and proprietor of the high-quality blog Eighty Six Forever, it’s Benjamin Massey, a.k.a. Lord Bob.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    In our discussion, Bobbo throws a certain young Canadian player under the bus, expresses his concern about being torn between the Whitecaps and FC Edmonton once the latter enters the fray in 2011, and attempts to set the record straight about his epic journey at the 2009 Gold Cup.
    Download the episode directly, or subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. Tomorrow, we head north for Part 2.
    Guest
    Blackburn Rovers have been turned upside-down in the couple of weeks. First the team was sold to India-based chicken-nugget outfit Venky's, then manager Big Sam Allardyce was unceremoniously turfed out on his ear. Now new owners Balaji Rao and Venkatesh Rao are weighing up further changes – including a fetching rename Rovers' stadium from Ewood Park to, yes, Venky's Park. The fans are upset, the results are disappointing and there's frigging snow everywhere.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    So things are a little unstable at Blackburn these days. And it's exactly that kind of instability that could be detrimental to the future of might-be Canadian international Junior Hoilett. Hoilett seems perpetually to be on the cusp of making a breakthrough, but he never quite gets there. He's still waiting for his first Premiership goal, which, to be fair, has been a long time coming, but he's been getting more and more regular minutes with the senior side, and hasn't looked out of his depth in the big leagues.
    But these developments could scuttle Junior's steady development with Rovers. He's always had huge promise, and just as he started to find his feet, he lost his patron when Big Sam got dumped. Worryingly, the new owners – as new owners are wont to do – are making all kinds of noise about buying new players and delivering their side to a new golden age. And Venkys seems serious: they've promised five million pounds for each of the next six transfer windows to buy new players. That sounds good for Blackburn supporters, but bad for on-the-fringe Blackburn players like Hoilett.
    In the end, what lay in Junior's future will depend on who takes the helm at Chicken Nugget Stadium – Alan Shearer? Martin Jol? Diego Freaking Maradonna? Hopefully they'll see in him what Sam Allardyce saw, and keep giving him the opportunity to develop into the player we all want him to be: a free-scoring Canadian international who regularly lends his fame to do exclusive interviews with Canadian Soccer News.
    Guest

    Consequences of compromise

    By Guest, in Onward Soccer,

    As previously noted in this space, the Canadian Soccer Association’s sweeping, ambitious governance reform package became a bit less sweeping after some backroom tinkering a week ago.
    The plan – which originally called for the removal of all provincial and territorial soccer association (SA) presidents from the CSA board – has tentatively been modified to allow three of fourteen seats to go to the SA heads.
    All I can tell you for certain is that Alberta and Quebec – the only provinces to vote against reform when the plan came up for a preliminary vote at last spring’s CSA annual general meeting in Winnipeg – have voted in favour of the changes.
    Alberta. (Sigh.)
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Before we get there, though:
    The reform package remains a work in progress. CSA director of communications Richard Scott told me the other day the matter will arise again at a Constitution Committee meeting in February. That should produce the final reform model, which will either be enacted (or voted into extinction) at the next CSA AGM in the spring.
    In the meantime, a broad array of veteran Canadian soccer watchers are telling me (quietly) they feel the current plan could be a fine and acceptable compromise. Certainly any reform that cuts the number of voting SA presidents from twelve to three is a bold, decisive sea change.
    But there’s still a huge cloud of controversy over Alberta, where the elected president (Chris Billings) has been unseated, and the acting head man (Mario Charpentier) stands accused – on multiple fronts – of furthering an agenda based more on what is good for him than for the development of soccer in his province.
    (I welcome any on-the-record counter-claims you care to offer, sir. benknight103 at yahoo.ca.)
    Which brings me – at last – to the main point.
    I do not, in general, question the well-meaning good intent of the provincial presidents. The reform package calls for regional representation, with a move towards elected representatives who do not hold positions in any other significant soccer boardroom.
    It’s a simple question of serving multiple masters. Provincial presidents have no need to be competent to help shape the future of professional national soccer squads hoping to qualify for FIFA World Cups. That’s a level of professional competence has been achingly lacking from the CSA for far too long.
    Yes, things are improving. And I’ll concede that even the current compromised reform package would be a significant step.
    But as long as any members of the CSA board also have constitutional responsibilities to a provincial or territorial board, the ultimate focus of the overall organization will be split. In Alberta, the fight is purely about who should be in charge, not what direction the on-field game should take.
    (I welcome any on-the-record counter-claims you care to offer, sir. benknight103 at yahoo.ca.)
    And now, this same Alberta is in a spearhead position in the reform clawback effort.
    (I welcome any on-the-record counter-claims you care to offer, sir. benknight103 at yahoo.ca.)
    The point’s been made to me several times this week that the provinces are reluctant to depart Metcalfe Street as long as the vast majority of the CSA’s money comes from local player registration fees. Certainly, it’s hard to argue against that. But this funding model is laughably out of date, and almost totally out of step with pretty much the entire footballing planet. Must the CSA be required to maintain a non-functional board to oversee an obsolete model?
    The Canadian Soccer Association will never be truly free to completely back Canada’s national teams until all the provincial and territorial presidents are removed from its board.
    Even if we’re down to only three come spring, how will they be selected? What kinds of bad feeling will the other boards feel as a consequence? How is there any fairness in any model as split as this one has now become?
    Ultimately, people, this is a simple case of all or nothing. We know "all" doesn’t work.
    If any SA heads are left on the CSA board come summer, there must be an eventual plan in place to remove them, as well.
    We’ll tackle this from an entirely different angle on Monday, with an open letter to CSA director-at-large Mike Traficante.
    Onward!
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