bettermirror Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 i think to build a community and tradition in canada we must: -when having identified a very talented prospect at age 16-18 they must be shipped to vancouver, calgary, toronto, or montreal and have them play for that a-league club. even if there are better players at the time for that club (meaning, adults), i think an agreement must be made to have these kids developed at a professional level until able to secure european permits and move to a european club. -i think that the csa should be paying these youth players' salaries as well. you could pay them maybe 5000 for the summer's work (which is way more than any other kid there age is making for the summer) and that's still way less than any other a-league player is getting. having this professional development will better serve our national ambitions and make these kids more identifiable by european clubs. they can look at hard facts at how well these kids are doing against quality adult opponents. every player at our u18, u20, u21, u23 level must be at the very least involved in the a-league if they aren't in europe, mexico, japan, or south america. ideas? comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Krammerhead will be appearing shortly with a big stick to lay a beating on you. I can see it coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew W Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 And the benefit to the A-League clubs would be?[?] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted October 16, 2003 Author Share Posted October 16, 2003 international exposure. think about it. european clubs start receiving quality youngsters. youngster talks about great time in calgary. club officials and fans start talking about how youngster came from calgary. foreigners begin looking to a-league as a good developmental/leapfrog/retirement league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Could there not be transfer fees if the player goes to Europe? Also, as bettermirror suggested, the CSA would be paying their salary so the team would get the player for free. So even if there's no benefit to the A-League team, there's also no cost. I think a better idea along those same lines would be for the CSA to pay some of the players who are playing in Europe to come back to Canada while the Euro leagues are in their off-season. I'm not talking about having them play, I'm just talking about hiring them for a couple of months to do PR to help promote the sport as well as the national team. One of the saddest things about being a Canadian soccer fan is the fact that we have to send our best players overseas to develop, and then, once they're over there, we never see them again except for once in a redwood's age when we might see them on TV. Guys like Stalteri, DeGuzman, Radzinski should be heroes to the kids playing soccer in this country. But most of the kids don't even know who they are. Wouldn't it be worthwhile to bring those players back in the summer, put them on a small but reasonable salary and have them available to the press, to the fans and to some of the many youngsters playing soccer at the community level? The players could act as honorary officials at youth tournaments. They could be guest instructors at soccer skills camps. They could show up at games all around their home towns and just shake hands with the kids and sign autographs, etc. It may not sound like much, but one little meeting like that could be enough to inspire a talented young athlete to pursue soccer where he might have devoted himself to hockey otherwise. Surely this would be a worthwhile way for the CSA to invest a small amount of money. It would not only give a boost to the next generation of players, but it would also increase the profile of the current national team and maybe pay off in merchandise sales, gate revenues, TV ratings etc. The players might even enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 What about coaching development? Shouldn't that come before player development? or at least be concurrent? It will boggle my mind the day we start sending our coaches abroad to learn their trade. Developing coaches is usually normally done at home. In our case it seems badly neglected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoaster Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Great idea, however the one problem I have is that if you pay the kids, they automatically lose their NCAA eligibility. Lets face it, only a handfull of the kids will get good good offers overseas. It would really stink if some kid who doesnt get a chance to go overseas loses his chance at an NCAA scholarship. Perhaps one idea could be similar to what Junior Hockey does. For every year in such a system the team or CSA pays for one year of education. Therefore, even if the kid doesnt get a chance overseas, he will get his education paid for, and still be able to play CIS soccer. BTW, we have two members of our national team who played CIS, while none who played NCAA. (IMhof and Jazic) So CIS isnt that bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted October 16, 2003 Author Share Posted October 16, 2003 oh, that education business messes up my idea. so, now finding the upside for a-league teams to take an "undertalented" prospect on their club doesn't make quite as much sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoaster Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Dont sell yourself short. It is still an excellent idea. Lets build on it. Like I said, even if the kids are not allowed to go to NCAA, they can still go to school in Canada. The CIS will have no problem with the fact that they were paid. The best ones will still go to Europe, while the ones who dont make it still have educational opportunities, hopefully paid for by their team or CSA. Most CIS hockey players have their education paid for by their former junior teams. THis could work on a much smaller basis with soccer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Just a brief point to make about the national team not having any former NCAA players - I think Bent spent some time at the University of Maryland, and while Xausa wasn't called up for the Finland match he's still part of the player pool & he (I believe) attended the University of Portland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted October 16, 2003 Author Share Posted October 16, 2003 oh, i misread. ok, so how do we put together this type of proposal? i am serious, we need to be contacting the csa and making our voices heard on a regular basis. we need to be contacting the nations soccer-writers too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew W Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 You might want to consider contacting A-League teams first. Without them it's a non-starter. Plus, it is their franchises you're talking about here, not the CSA's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoaster Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Just to add to the whole player development topic, it is imperative that youth get into situations where they learn skills, more skills, and even more skills. To use myself as an example, I was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, and lived there for most of my youth. While there I obviously played soccer everyday, and took part in many soccer programs. During these soccer programs, all we did was learn skills, over and over and over. We scrimmaged between ourselves, but I can count on one hand the number of official games I took part against other clubs. When I moved to Canada, I joined the local soccer association, and after a few weeks of practice to prepare for the season, we would play two games a week, without very litle practice. I thought at the time that this was the greatest thing ever. I remember my friends in Newcastle being so jealous that I got to play so many games. However, looking back playing so many games was the worst possible thing. I dont think my skills impoved at all after coming here. I wold love to see the youth soccer programs take the emphasis away from games, and put it purely on skill development. Games can come later. Does anything come of pre-teens playing in tournaments where all they do is kick it up and down and half the team doesnt touch it. What are your thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted October 16, 2003 Author Share Posted October 16, 2003 poignant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Oranje Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 First off, I don't believe player development is a huge problem under the age of 16. However, I have to agree that we tend to try to over organize. The small-sided scrimmages with nothing at stake is where the ball skills get developed. We tend to try to create super elite leagues for 11 year olds as an example. The only thing we do is burn out the kids and parents with travel. Or at least, we lose a few of them. The big problem we have in player development is when kids become older. I see it as primarily the polishing of the tactical knowledge of these kids. It is learning how to combine with your teammates that requires some further coaching. In other words, I feel the ball skills of a Canadian 14 year old are not that bad compared to other nations especially with players playing indoor and outdoor. But 18 year olds still have a hard time playing together effectively compared to other nations where these kids would now be with professional clubs if they had the skills. I think that is why kids like David Edgar (left at 15 I think) are advised to go to Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 We match up with anybody in the world with our young kids. I agree with Canuck Oranje. I don't know what league you (eastcoaster) were in or what era, but teaching skills is big in Calgary. We don't even keep score for the young ones playing 3 on 3 (U6) and 4 on 4 (U8). It may vary from district to district but skills development is the number one priority in my district. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoaster Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Its great to hear that skill development plays a large part in Calgary. Perhaps that is one reason why that area is putting out so many quality players...dare I say the whore. However, perhaps it is the same way everywhere, specifically smaller regions. This could be for a number of reasons such as lack of quality coaching or even the local soccer associatons mandate. OUt of a curiosity, what role does the CSA play in youth development at the minor level. Do they play any, or are the local associations free to do whatever they want? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Actually, this development program is relatively new and was not in place when OH was playing as a young boy. The model for playing at U10 and under is based on material and programs developed by Tony Waiters. And note that the programs vary among the different community leagues in Calgary. Some districts still have 5 year olds playing 5 or 6 aside on large fields. The CSA doesn't really come into play at these age groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted October 16, 2003 Author Share Posted October 16, 2003 how can 5 year olds possibly play 5 or 6 a-side one a full field? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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