The new D3 league(s)

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I found that website by googling after hearing what the name of the league was going to be on a recent podcast. Not at all clear to what extent it will even have been used where prospective member teams are concerned. I suspect they will have been contacted directly with an info package in most cases given they appear to be aiming this primarily at existing soccer clubs rather than individual investors. Agree that it will be disappointing if that's how it looks after their first official press release, however.

[Redcoatsforever]

Well, the deadline has passed for teams to join L.1.O. ("L.O.O." as an an acronym sounds ridiculous, so I'll use "L.1.O." as an initialism instead) does anybody know how it turned out?

We should be hearing more by the 11th or 26th I imagine.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

No on your specific question but in a recent It's Called Football or The Soccer Show podcast the president of the OSA stressed the point that they would take their time and do things right and made it sound like the Jan 31st things wasn't a concrete deadline that would determine whether or not the league would emerge. I suspect there's a lot of behind the scenes soccer association politics underway right now. Seems a bit far-fetched that both the CSL and L1O would operate side by side in southern Ontario over the long haul but I suppose it could be argued that the greater youth player emphasis of L1O might mean there still is a niche for both.

[ThiKu]

With the youth-focus of L1O you'll see a lot of youth clubs signing on. Especially if the L1O teams can develop relationship with the NTC's, universities, and at least send various "star" youth players out for trials overseas etc...

Agreed - can't see L1O and CSL running side-by-side but it also wouldn't surprise me if it did.

[Redcoatsforever]

I'm expecting this to cause some divergence. Either the CSL will attempt to fight L1O over the youth-focus, or the CSL will return its focus to senior-sides with academies or even relationships with L1O sides.

If it becomes a fight for who is going to be the big youth-focused developer in Ontario, I don't think the CSL will win, entirely because it costs more to run a CSL club than an L1O club, and they'll be divvying up the same pool of players/supporters.

[maccaliam]

Well, the deadline has passed for teams to join L.1.O. ("L.O.O." as an an acronym sounds ridiculous, so I'll use "L.1.O." as an initialism instead) does anybody know how it turned out?

We should be hearing more by the 11th or 26th I imagine.

I assume we're waiting until at least the 11th considering nothing seems to have come out about the clubs who have applied to join the league or even if there have been enough clubs who have actually applied?

[j.i.m.]

The last I heard they were still in the process of getting 8 teams to commit. If they do get to this stage the hard part will getting a financial investment from these teams.

[maccaliam]

^ cheers Jim.

I've just looked at the L1O website, and here's what I found:

"We are very pleased to report that a total of 11 applications were submitted by the January 31 deadline from clubs representing a total of 8 distinct districts. Applications were received from the following organizations:

- Pickering Soccer Club (DRSA)

- Vaughan Soccer Club (YRSA)

- Woodbridge Soccer Club (YRSA)

- North York TK Warriors (no district affiliation at this time)

- Saltfleet Go Ahead Soccer Club (H&DSA)

- Milltown FC (PHSA)

- Guelph Soccer Club (SWRSA)

- Niagara Falls Soccer Club (NSA)

- ANB Futbol (NYSA)

- 1v1 Soccer FC (no district affiliation at this time)

- London Marconi Soccer Club (EMSA)

Two other community clubs expressed a serious intent to submit an application but unfortunately did not meet the January 31 deadline

It is, however, important to note that the majority of applications received to this point were submitted conditional upon the league commencing in May 2013, rather than in 2012."

http://league1ontario.com/

I thought I had heard Oakville was one club considering L1O... perhaps, I've confused that with something else. I wonder if we'll hear more before the 26 February deadline for OSA approval? Could this be just what the CSL needs to sort itself out and re-assert its potential if L1O can't get going this year?

[j.i.m.]

According to a recent press release from Milltown FC in announcing Omar Jbaihi as the new head coach it seems as they are preparing to play in PHSL this upcoming season. They will also a reserve team as well.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

^^ Based on the text on the L1O website it sounds like the league probably won't start until 2013 because a "majority" of applications would leave them with less than 8 for 2012.

- Pickering Soccer Club (DRSA)

- Vaughan Soccer Club (YRSA)

- Woodbridge Soccer Club (YRSA)

- North York TK Warriors (no district affiliation at this time)

- Saltfleet Go Ahead Soccer Club (H&DSA)

- Milltown FC (PHSA)

- Guelph Soccer Club (SWRSA)

- Niagara Falls Soccer Club (NSA)

- ANB Futbol (NYSA)

- 1v1 Soccer FC (no district affiliation at this time)

- London Marconi Soccer Club (EMSA)

I guess the only surprise out of that lot is the apparent absence of Hamilton Croatia. Not sure what links there may or may not be to Saltfleet Go Ahead Soccer Club in that context. Good to see London Marconi in there. They were London's NSL entry for a significant portion of the 1980s so have a previous history of semi-pro involvement. The facility they have is definitely more than adequate for a league like L1O. The London Lasers played there in 1992 in an original CSL context and I think FC London have played some PDL games more recently.

Edit: After some googling it looks like 1v1 Soccer FC are from Ancaster:

http://www.1v1soccer.ca/

[h=5]Where are you based?[/h]

We are based in a small place called Ancaster, Ontario which is located between Toronto and Niagara Falls.We operate out of four main training centres in Ancaster, Burlington, Oakville and Waterdown.

[dobar dan]

BBTB, The TD at Saltfleet SC is Ron Davidson, who was Croatia Hamilton coach for 4 years and their coach in the CSL, so maybe a joint venture between the 2 organizations, I say maybe!

[DontPanic]

seems to be a good mix and nice to see not all 10 in Toronto for the start.

[Redcoatsforever]

A little disappointed that it's most likely not happening until 2013, and that it'll be Marconi. Nothing against the Marconi Club, it's a nice place, but Clarke Road is out of the way for...well, pretty much all of London. It's on the 17's bus route though, so I suppose matches wouldn't be as inconvenient as, say, anything at North Adelaide fields.

Ideally, I'd really like to see a reasonable quality pitch with bleachers, a scoreboard, and pressbox go in near the city centre, maybe even at the fairgrounds. Curinga might've been an ideal location...

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

You can take the 2A, 7 and 22 out to the Marconi Club from downtown, for what it's worth. Although the Marconi club is a bit out of the way for some people it's maybe worth bearing in mind that the core of London's soccer community has tended to be from "east of Adelaide". It will be interesting to see where the money is coming from and whether there is some partnership involved with one of the larger youth clubs. Hopefully they make it through the vetting process if (as seems likely based on past comments by the OSA president) L1O gets the extension to 2013.

Edit: Also not sure you know where the Curinga club is if you want something close to downtown. It's here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=17+Clarke+Road,+London,+Ontario&hl=en&sll=42.970241,-81.207161&sspn=0.20323,0.308647&hnear=17+Clarke+Rd,+London,+Ontario+N5W+5W6,+Canada&t=h&z=17

slightly more out of the way than Marconi, basically, which for the benefit of anybody from outside London who is interested is here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=120+Clarke+Road,+London,+Ontario&hl=en&ll=42.987917,-81.167454&spn=0.006349,0.009645&sll=42.989196,-81.168108&sspn=0.006349,0.009645&hnear=120+Clarke+Rd,+London,+Middlesex+County,+Ontario+N5W+5C9,+Canada&t=h&z=17

[Redcoatsforever]

You can take the 2A, 7 and 22 out to the Marconi Club from downtown, for what it's worth. Although the Marconi club is a bit out of the way for some people it's maybe worth bearing in mind that the core of London's soccer community has tended to be from "east of Adelaide". It will be interesting to see where the money is coming from and whether there is some partnership involved with one of the larger youth clubs. Hopefully they make it through the vetting process if (as seems likely based on past comments by the OSA president) L1O gets the extension to 2013.

Edit: Also not sure you know where the Curinga club is if you want something close to downtown. It's here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=17+Clarke+Road,+London,+Ontario&hl=en&sll=42.970241,-81.207161&sspn=0.20323,0.308647&hnear=17+Clarke+Rd,+London,+Ontario+N5W+5W6,+Canada&t=h&z=17

slightly more out of the way than Marconi, basically, which for the benefit of anybody from outside London who is interested is here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=120+Clarke+Road,+London,+Ontario&hl=en&ll=42.987917,-81.167454&spn=0.006349,0.009645&sll=42.989196,-81.168108&sspn=0.006349,0.009645&hnear=120+Clarke+Rd,+London,+Middlesex+County,+Ontario+N5W+5C9,+Canada&t=h&z=17

Yeah, as soon as I wrote the thing about Curinga I realized how stupid it was. I've only ever driven past it on a few occasions and each time the angle of Hamilton Road just made it seem closer to downtown I guess. There used to be a soccer club downtown though, near Adelaide at Dundas. At least, I saw a sign for one, it may have moved.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Think that would have to be a high school field. Either Beal or Catholic Central? Definitely no soccer specific venues around there any time recently (i.e. past two decades) that I can think of in terms of a field anyway. The Benfica social club is in that part of town. Fields that are shared with Canadian football tend to be a bit of a disaster in playing surface terms, so usually best avoided in my opinion. Not sure if you will have ever played on one of the top ethnic social club pitches in London but it's night and day compared to that.

[Redcoatsforever]

Think that would have to be a high school field. Either Beal or Catholic Central? Definitely no soccer specific venues around there any time recently (i.e. past two decades) that I can think of in terms of a field anyway. The Benfica social club is in that part of town. Fields that are shared with Canadian football tend to be a bit of a disaster in playing surface terms, so usually best avoided in my opinion. Not sure if you will have ever played on one of the top ethnic social club pitches in London but it's night and day compared to that.

It was Benfica I was thinking of. As for the pitches in London, do you remember a fair few years back, the fields at London United were pretty much entirely dead, yellow grass? That's my main experience playing in London. Although, these past few years it's been rainy enough in the summer to keep most of the city's fields in ripe condition.

[maccaliam]

January 4, 2012 CSA confirms OSA Standards for League 1 Ontario

January 7, 2012 League 1 Ontario Information Meeting for Clubs interested in joining league in 2012

January 31, 2012 Deadline for required minimum 8 teams to join League 1 Ontario

February 11, 2012 OSA League Management Committee to approve Terms Of League Operations

February 26, 2012 OSA Board to give final approval for League 1 Ontario to operate in 2012

Anyone know what's happening? I'm curious to see what is going to happen and what discussions are taking place following many of the clubs asking for a possible delay of L1O until 2013.

[Soccerpro]

January 4, 2012 CSA confirms OSA Standards for League 1 Ontario

January 7, 2012 League 1 Ontario Information Meeting for Clubs interested in joining league in 2012

January 31, 2012 Deadline for required minimum 8 teams to join League 1 Ontario

February 11, 2012 OSA League Management Committee to approve Terms Of League Operations

February 26, 2012 OSA Board to give final approval for League 1 Ontario to operate in 2012

Anyone know what's happening? I'm curious to see what is going to happen and what discussions are taking place following many of the clubs asking for a possible delay of L1O until 2013.

The league masterminds decised it wasn't feasible to get the league together for 2012. 2013 is now the goal.

[maccaliam]

^ Do you know if that's definite?

[Soccerpro]

^ Do you know if that's definite?

yes

[ThiKu]

That's a shame but hopefully it also means all the teams start-off right away with good foundation and then the league can thrive.

[maccaliam]

Cheers Soccerpro. Has anyone got any idea how that affects the CSL for the upcoming season? Are they now going to be granted D3 status (or perhaps they were always going to be), and could that hurt L1O's chances of being granted D3 status next season?

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

CSL are sanctioned by the CSA, while L1O are sanctioned by the OSA so both can easily run in parallel in sanctioning terms. The study into the future of pro soccer that was commissioned by the CSA are recommending a D3 U-23 focus rather than D2 so it remains to be seen whether the CSA will move in that direction and what implications that would have for the CSL.

A recent It's Called Football podcast is worth a listen on that because one of the people who was involved in the study,

Richard Whittall, really spills the beans on how things unfolded on that

:

http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?2898-It-s-Called-Football-Guest-Richard-Whittall

{14:00 onwards if people want to avoid the filler content at the beginning}

[maccaliam]

Thanks BBTB. That's where my confusion came from - I had thought I had read the CSL and L1O were rivaling each other for one possible sanctioned league. I don't have time to listen now to that podcast but I would hope to soon. I would really like to see these leagues prosper, so hopefully they can both step-up and succeed.