Canadian Soccer News has learned that next week the Ontario Soccer Association (OSA) will announce the formation of a Technical Association Council which will be charged with overhauling the youth competition structure in the province.
Put simply, they're going to look at the benefits of eliminating the promotion and relegation structure in the amateur ranks and replacing it with a Regional Development League.
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Promotion and relegation, which is something that works well on the professional level, has been increasingly blamed for the stagnated growth of players in Ontario. CSN spoke to a number of technical directors across the province and the message was the clear: for players to properly develop they can't be yo-yoing up and down with the fate of their club. Instead, there is a greater benefit to be had by players staying within a similar club strcuture for much of their youth careers. While some movement is still to be expected, this move is intended to prevent the mass exodus' that occur when a club is relegated.
Over the past four months the provincial association has been working with a number of clubs - big and small - to review the benefits of the new system and it's agreed that this approach would fall in line with the Long Term Player Development Plan promoted by the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA.)
The challenge now becomes how will the province be able to implement this new system? Since even the earliest discussions there has been significant backlash and confusion over what this new league is about. Those involved in the planning of this new structure assure CSN that this is not a break away league and point to the involvement of the OSA at every step of the way.
You can read more about the Regional Development proposal and timeline here.
But what do you think? Is promotion and relegation good for the youth structure? Does it encourage competition? Or does it splinter development the way the technical directors are suggesting?