Richard Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 British Columbia is the only province with two cities chosen to host games. Even the mighty duo of Ontario and Quebec with five or six times the population of BC couldn't pull that one off . I think the province has earned some bragging rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Richard British Columbia is the only province with two cities chosen to host games. Even the mighty duo of Ontario and Quebec with five or six times the population of BC couldn't pull that one off . I think the province has earned some bragging rights. Um, last time I checked, Ottawa and Toronto were in the same province. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Free kick I thought that kevein Mckenna hailed from calgary. Fixed. The Ottawa bid could almost be considered an Ontario-Quebec big as no new monies will be injected and the population comes from bothe provinces. Also, some nicknames are clearly deserved. Edmonton WAS the city of Champions in the 80's with the Oilers and Eskies. This one is a PR gimmick. About that: Rochester has TM'ed "Soccertown, USA" and Portland has done the same with "Soccercity, USA"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Well first we had the ridiculous "soccer capital of Canada", now the "Province of Soccer" boasts, I'm wondering what's next? Will someone make the claim for the "Municipality of Soccer"? The County of Soccer? The "Territory of Soccer"? The Borough of Soccer? The Hamlet of Soccer? The Backyard of Soccer? Have I missed any? http://www.laurentianshomepage.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Winnipeg Fury Ted, Besides selling tickets, what does the Victoria bid do for a permanent improvement to the local soccer infrastructure ? We really have been told nothing about this bid other than it's location. Well, that frankly is the fly in my ointment...[]... sorry I couldn't think of a better phrase. Anyway, the current plan, by which I mean the respectable, realistic plan is to use temp seating at Centennial Stadium. The organizers are expecting virtually NOTHING from outside in terms of money so they have to budget based on local ticket sales and local sponsorships. This means some minor cosmetic work on Centennial, rented bleachers for the duration and nothing in the way of physical legacy from the games. I wish I could be more angry and outraged than just a little disappointed but I cannot see how to do more without more money. I thought more money would be available but each venue is pretty much on thier own (except T.O. if they actually get the stadium.) Ah well, we will get some great games and more promotion of soccer locally. We will also get another chance to unify the soccer community in Victoria which may lead to better things in the future. It has been awesome watching the whole soccer community rallying behind this (and previous) projects. It instills a general feeling of optimism waiting for a goal that is as yet undefined... Whoah, sorry musta caught a whiff of some wacky tabacky [8D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussoccerfan Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 quote:Originally posted by DJT http://www.laurentianshomepage.com Gian-Luca- As i'm proud to be an Atlantic Canadian could you please explain why you insulted St. Lawrence, Newfoundland ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 quote:Originally posted by ted Well, that frankly is the fly in my ointment...[]... sorry I couldn't think of a better phrase. Anyway, the current plan, by which I mean the respectable, realistic plan is to use temp seating at Centennial Stadium. The organizers are expecting virtually NOTHING from outside in terms of money so they have to budget based on local ticket sales and local sponsorships. This means some minor cosmetic work on Centennial, rented bleachers for the duration and nothing in the way of physical legacy from the games. I wish I could be more angry and outraged than just a little disappointed but I cannot see how to do more without more money. I thought more money would be available but each venue is pretty much on thier own (except T.O. if they actually get the stadium.) Ah well, we will get some great games and more promotion of soccer locally. We will also get another chance to unify the soccer community in Victoria which may lead to better things in the future. It has been awesome watching the whole soccer community rallying behind this (and previous) projects. It instills a general feeling of optimism waiting for a goal that is as yet undefined... Whoah, sorry musta caught a whiff of some wacky tabacky [8D] Whilst it is painfully obvious that legacy soccer specific stadiums in each of the host cities would be ideal, does that mean we should adopt a policy of no WYC games for cities where there will not be legacy stadiums? Surely that is a crass and shortsighted approach so I applaud your willingness to compromise Ted. I think hosting games in a tournament second only to FIFA's World Cup in and of itself will leave a lasting legacy and hugely raise the profile of the game locally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted May 6, 2005 Author Share Posted May 6, 2005 Victoria scores world soccer Game's greatest youth players to battle at Centennial Stadium Cleve Dheensaw Times Colonist May 5, 2005 Victoria has been selected as one of Canada's host cities for the 2007 FIFA World Youth Soccer Championships, an event that will feature international pro stars of the future. It will be the biggest sporting event hosted in Victoria since the 1994 Commonwealth Games and dwarfs the 2006 world junior hockey championships in Vancouver, both in terms of size and significance because of the popularity of soccer around the globe. It is the most important soccer event ever hosted by Canada. "Christmas came today in May," said ecstatic Victoria bid committee member Sharon Marejka, executive director of the Lower Island Soccer Association, after the announcement in Toronto Wednesday. Victoria will host the July event at the University of Victoria's Centennial Stadium, where 5,000 permanent seats will be supplemented with 7,000, possibly more, temporary seats for a capacity of at least 12,000. FIFA requires a minimum capacity of 10,000 for the World Youth Championships. The tournament, for players under 20, is considered FIFA's most important men's event after the senior World Cup, and is expected to attract a worldwide TV audience of 500 million. Canada won the right to host the 2007 event last year with Edmonton and Toronto pre-selected as venues. Eleven other cities initially expressed interest in hosting the four remaining groups but only eight submitted bids. After presentations to the Canadian Soccer Association Tuesday, Victoria, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa were chosen. Laval, London, Quebec City and Sherbrooke were passed over. "A key element of our bid that really impressed the CSA was that we have 24,000 tickets already committed," said Victoria bid chairman Harold McNeill, from Toronto. That was done, said McNeill, through a grassroots campaign in which every soccer association on Vancouver Island, from youth to adult, committed to buy one ticket for every player in their organization. "The buy-in by Island soccer associations was overwhelming and we're prepared to go up to 15,000 or 16,000 seats at Centennial Stadium if demand drives it," said Victoria bid committee member Bob Hope, vice-president of the B.C. Soccer Association. The 24 best Under-20 national sides will qualify for the FIFA World Youth Championships and play 52 games. Four of the teams, to be determined by a draw in early 2007, will be based in Victoria. There will be seven games at Centennial Stadium -- three pool-round doubleheaders and a round-of-16 playoff game. Team Canada will be based in either Toronto or Edmonton. Hope said ticket prices for the doubleheaders, and playoff game, will be $30, $45 and $55. Each venue is responsible for its own finances, although each of the six will receive a portion, still to be decided, of the $30 million the Canadian Soccer Association has budgeted for the championships, $15 million of which comes from FIFA. Victoria's budget is $3.5 million, said Hope. The money will come from CSA/FIFA, tickets, sponsorships and in-kind deals such as those already struck with the Hotel Grand Pacific and Harbour Towers for accommodation. The provincial government has committed $500,000 to both the Victoria and Vancouver venues. McNeill said a cultural component, centred around the Inner Harbour, will accompany the soccer. © Times Colonist (Victoria) 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew W Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Well first we had the ridiculous "soccer capital of Canada", now the "Province of Soccer" boasts, I'm wondering what's next? Will someone make the claim for the "Municipality of Soccer"? The County of Soccer? The "Territory of Soccer"? The Borough of Soccer? The Hamlet of Soccer? The Backyard of Soccer? Have I missed any? I think Cheeta trademarked the "Basement of Soccer." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 quote:Originally posted by aussoccerfan Gian-Luca- As i'm proud to be an Atlantic Canadian could you please explain why you insulted St. Lawrence, Newfoundland ? He's probably not referring to St. Lawrence, because the "soccer capital of Canada" label has also been applied by people in Edmonton and Vancouver to their own cities. Regardless of who he is referring to, he's just saying that these labels are silly. That is not insulting to these places. I agree with Gian-Luca and the others who have echoed his sentiment. I don't see the point of these labels. People have suggested that it is for PR purposes, but I don't see the brilliance of such a marketing move or even what it's supposed to achieve. Meanwhile, the CPSL gets criticized for claiming something for PR purposes that is arguably not true, but it's okay for Lenarduzzi and Montagliani to do so? We need to unite soccer across Canada, not create further regionalism — that's what bugs me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 Give it a rest, calling some place a soccer capital during a press conference is harmless hype and can hardly be equated with deliberately misrepresenting the nature of one's organisation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Richard Give it a rest Hey, that was my first post on this topic! quote:calling some place a soccer capital during a press conference is harmless hype and can hardly be equated with deliberately misrepresenting the nature of one's organisation.Well, we've already discussed this issue as it pertains to the CPSL and we disagreed, so of course we're going to disagree here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Winnipeg Fury Victoria scores world soccer Game's greatest youth players to battle at Centennial Stadium Cleve Dheensaw Times Colonist May 5, 2005 The really cool part was seeing this as the lead story on the FRONT PAGE of the paper. This and a sidebar covered 1/2 the page! A soccer story dominating the front page... not something I get to see very often! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Winnipeg Fury Victoria scores world soccer Game's greatest youth players to battle at Centennial Stadium Cleve Dheensaw Times Colonist May 5, 2005 The really cool part was seeing this as the lead story on the FRONT PAGE of the paper. This and a sidebar covered 1/2 the page! A soccer story dominating the front page... not something I get to see very often! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 quote:Originally posted by ted The really cool part was seeing this as the lead story on the FRONT PAGE of the paper. This and a sidebar covered 1/2 the page! A soccer story dominating the front page... not something I get to see very often! Something for which you can thank Kevan Pipe and the CSA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussoccerfan Posted May 6, 2005 Share Posted May 6, 2005 quote:Originally posted by DJT He's probably not referring to St. Lawrence, because the "soccer capital of Canada" label has also been applied by people in Edmonton and Vancouver to their own cities. Regardless of who he is referring to, he's just saying that these labels are silly. That is not insulting to these places. I agree with Gian-Luca and the others who have echoed his sentiment. I don't see the point of these labels. People have suggested that it is for PR purposes, but I don't see the brilliance of such a marketing move or even what it's supposed to achieve. Meanwhile, the CPSL gets criticized for claiming something for PR purposes that is arguably not true, but it's okay for Lenarduzzi and Montagliani to do so? We need to unite soccer across Canada, not create further regionalism — that's what bugs me. As long as 1 region of the country (atlantic canada) is ignored. It will probably create further regionalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachRich Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 From personal experience, Vancouver is not a field sports friendly city. Too many NIMBY's!!!! Burnaby as before & for the Caps is the best place. If the Caps get COV approval on their new stad, it might be ready for 2010. Got to look at the COV like this. The have 125 soccer fields of which 30% are closed all the time due to lack of maintainence. The other close as soon as it rains so everyone move to gravel if you are boys & girls move their home to away games w/ the rules. In a city of 10,000 soccer players they have 1 AT while other cities have a player to AT ratio of 600 - 1000. In the last 5 years over $75M was spent on ice rinks & swimming pools who have 6,200 reg'ed users w/ a PSO. Soccer alone has 10,000 reg'ed w/ a PSO. Add another 30,000 fields users to that there are 40,000 who over 17 years got 12M for fields. This means rinks & pools got about $12,000 per user while field user got $250 per user. Sure some of the above is going into old community centers & Olympic Legacy but it's still field user tax money. Not a lot of Tax Equality for field users in Vancouver. The COV bureaucrats & politicians just don't get it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I thought somone might use this thread to point out the BC players on the Gold Cup team, like Onstad and Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regs Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Maybe Global TV will do a scathing expose piece on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefoot Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 This Province of Soccer title is a ridiculous gesture. What exactly has been done to promote this under 20 tourney in BC???? Nothing compared to Toronto and Edmonton. BC..big talk..too many real estate developers..not enough actual civic pride. Lets stick to the task at hand. promote the tournament better!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devioustrevor Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 A little ridiculous. Victoria almost didn't even get chosen, I always thought, and still do, that London would've been a better choice. Last I heard London was intending to build a 10,000 seat stadium as a legacy project related to last Summer's World Lacrosse Championships. If London had've been chosen I have no doubt a stadium would've already been built, Ellis-Don could've put up a 10,000 seat stadium in months. Considering all the recent construction in the Hyde Park area of the town, a new stadium would've made a great community anchor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 quote:Originally posted by devioustrevor A little ridiculous. Victoria almost didn't even get chosen, I always thought, and still do, that London would've been a better choice. Last I heard London was intending to build a 10,000 seat stadium as a legacy project related to last Summer's World Lacrosse Championships. If London had've been chosen I have no doubt a stadium would've already been built, Ellis-Don could've put up a 10,000 seat stadium in months. Considering all the recent construction in the Hyde Park area of the town, a new stadium would've made a great community anchor. I believe the organizers wanted 3 western and 3 eastern cities. London getting games would have come at the expense of Ottawa or Montreal, not Victoria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnie Monster Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Another pitch point on the whole province of soccer thing for BC was that in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island (where 90% of the population is) you can play the sport outdoors, year round. But like another poster said earleir... it's really just a made for BC promotional campaign for drumming up interest in Canada international matches in BC, as well as the Whitecaps. We first started hearing "the province of soccer" catchphrase when the Caps first announced their stadium intentions (long before there was any real U20 WC hype in these parts), so it's definitely meant to spark interest in local fans, businesses and government. Perhaps off topic - maybe not - I recently read on here someone voicing their disappointment at the lack of U20 WC advertising in "the province of soccer." Aside from television ads, I don't know what else they could be doing more. There's ads in every major newspaper and transit tabloid (Metro & 24 hrs) pretty much every day. The Province newspaper also runs a full colour weekly pull-out section on the Caps which has one or two ads in it too. I've recently seen large U20 WC billboard ads appearing in Vancouver (the giant soccer ball meteor crashing at Swangard), and the Caps are plugging the tourney every chance they get through their game days, Lenarduzzi's media appearances, etc. I've also seen numerous TV commercials here where the advertiser has added the U20 WC logo at the end. So what else could they be doing? And let's face it, aside from Spain, Vancouver's group draw for this event was really, really disappointing. Uruguay, Zambia and Jordan are going to draw sweet F-all. The only redemption here is an extra group match between Scotland & Costa Rica. Still, ticket sales here have been strong, although I suspect a lot of those pre-sales are going to end up on e-Bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachRich Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 BC Players - good point to have them out front. Maybe they should good on the Province of Soccer. Regs - Vancouver Fields piece already done :-) If you want to give me the bandwidth I'll give you the vid. Then Richard can link to it. Van Fields was another 1 of my projects for soccer even though I coach in Richmond, I live & grew up in Kits. Same poorly maintained fields for decades in Van. Province of Soccer - It's a good effort & the stakeholders are trying to make a connection to the soccer community & the general public. I think the timing of the U20 is a great time to do something more grassroots & non soccer community friendly. There are hundreds of soccer players out there that don't play affiliated soccer & tons of East side kids who can't afford the kit & travel. U20 - besides being successful for the members of CSA, it's my hope that U20 is going to be successful for soccer in general. At the youth level tons of tickets have been sold & most youth clubs have been advertising the event. Hey, who knows, maybe the City of Vancouver will wake up & realize how much sport tourism dollars they are loosing. I hope so as I'm tried to picking gravel out of kids knees :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 It seems to me that BC has the most no of inductees in Canada's Soccer Hall Of Fame.I don't know if this counts but tells you a story as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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