In the days that have passed since their elimination there has been plenty of frustration voiced by many involved in the game. In many cases, that frustration is being expressed as hopelessness. In nearly every case the opinions being shared are focused on what's wrong with the system and on how it feels like we will never fix it.
Make no mistake. The Canadian system is deeply flawed. It's been so for a generation and it's unrealistic to think that the factors that helped create 8-1 are suddenly gone just two years later.
However, there are positives happening and there are people working to change things. It is important to point out failings and to demand changes in areas that need it, but it's not helpful to simply scream about blowing everything up. Before we continue to focus on the failings, we should acknowledge those positives that do exist. Sigma Academy produced two of the top 11 picks in the MLS draft. It's not all bad.
Actually, I will argue that in some ways the constant negativity only enables those who are fighting against progressive changes that are (trying) to be implemented. A good example of that can be found in Ontario with the Youth Soccer League of Ontario.
YSLO is opposed to the LTPD plan. It's run by an individual that has profited off of running youth soccer leagues for years and who is upset that the OSA has made his ability to do that more difficult. Taking advantage of people's ignorance of how LTPD works to gain support (and registration fees), YSLO works to undermine progressive efforts by the OSA.
Today, YSLO sent an email out to media that used Canada's FIFA ranking as an example of why we shouldn't trust the OSA or CSA. The fact that the ranking is largely the result of operating with a system that is the very representation of what YSLO is was conveniently left out of the email.
Yet, YSLO's message will find an audience. Although the logic behind LTPD is obvious to most reading this, to others it is confusing and badly explained to them by those implementing it. Bluntly, there has been a disconnect between the CSA and many involved in the game at local levels when it comes to these changes. The instinct of many is to just assume that the CSA's plan is wrong.
Sack the CSA has become an easy call by many. It makes implementing change difficult.
However, make no mistake, the continued influence of groups like YSLO is far more damaging to the overall health of the game in Canada than any failings by the CSA or provincial associations. And, this is just one example of people at the grassroots that have agendas that are not in line with progressive initiatives. It may not even be the most damaging example.
One person involved in the game told me recently that “parasite” groups like YSLO need to be eradicated from the game before we have any hope of truly fixing the system.
How does that happen though?
Sorry, no simple answers to that one. No quick ones either.
From my perspective a good first step would be to improve communication across the board. Too many people feel left out of the conversation, or don't even know what the conversation is right now. Instead of creating consensus you have hundreds of individual voices yelling into the wind.
This is where leadership from the top needs to be better, especially at the grassroots.
Writing for TSN today, Jason DeVos stressed the need for a greater grassroots focus and better communication to those involved in local levels of the game.
Until the CSA can wrap both of its hands around grassroots soccer and completely overhaul our player development system – and that incorporates a wide range of topics, from coach education to training curriculum to competition structures - nothing will change.
Later, in a Twitter exchange with myself, he suggested that the CSA needs to create a position that is entirely focused on overhauling and working with the grassroots.
He's right. He also might be the person for that job.
It would be an exceptionally difficult and at times thankless job. It's a job that would require a strong individual with exceptional leadership skills and a strong technical background.
The person would need to walk into any room in the country and instantly command respect, especially on a technical level. Lastly, it would require a person that can deal with conflict and resistance and who won't be afraid to say unpopular things and stand up to people who are used to being the alpha dog in their local soccer community.
There's quite literally no one else in the country who fits that description other than DeVos.
Would he take the job? You'd have to ask him? Would the CSA offer the job (if it, in fact, created it)? That's a good question.
My instinct is to fear that the CSA would instead go with a person with political instincts. A person that would travel the country, hold meetings and publish an articulate study that would be presented to fanfare then ignored.
Actually, my instinct is that the CSA won't create the position at all. Doing so isn't as simple as snapping their fingers and, in the end, they will likely feel there are already people in the association responsible for this.
And, the cycle will continue. Positive change will remain isolated and disconnected and those who profit off the negativity national team failure creates will continue to operate with little opposition.
If that happens, you may as well bookmark this article for reading after the 2017 u20 cycle because nothing changes at the top of the system until the bottom gets healthier.