Labelling a league "First Division"

[Passive Observer]

Long time lurker here.

I know that topic of starting a pro league in Canada has been beaten to death, but one thing I can’t understand is the reluctance for the CSA to simply start or designate a league as "1st division" – as piss poor as it might be. Think its important for a country to have a top flight league (in name at least, even if the quality is not there) and as the years go by it can gradually be developed. In the meantime the champion of the Canadian league would be able to participate in continental competitions.

For example I lived in Thailand and they have a joke of a league. It consisted of 10 teams – all of which were Bangkok based and every game was played in a small 5,000 seat stadium in Bangkok that would essentially be dubbed a High School stadium in North America. But still the country did have a first division and actually the league champions three years ago made it all the way to the finals of the Asian Champions League.

A better example is a country like Jamaica. Their clubs, which probably are inferior to the Canadian USL sides, produce a lot of talent and American colleges and MLS mine them and have groomed some quality players. A Canadian league initially would be a feeder league but in due time it would be able to hold its own. The Scandinavian leagues used to be totally semi-pro, but in recent years a few clubs have been able to become fully professional and made good runs in European competitions.

Some might argue that it’s just a waste of time to start a 1st division if its not going to be any good, but I feel there is a certain charm that comes with being THE 1st division of a nation. It has a psychological effect on players, fans, media, agents, foreign clubs, etc. For example I can see press more likely to cover matches played in the “Canadian 1st division,” then a game played by a “Canadian team in the USL.” Similarly a talented Carribbean player might decide to come up north with the thought that he will be playing in the Canadian 1st division. It might mean **** quality wise, but it sure sounds good when telling family, friends and countrymen, “I am off to play for a Canadian first division side.”

[Luis_Rancagua]

Passive Observer, your comments are well thought-out. I was wondering if you have any plans of postings your ideas on the CPSL fan messageboard website. Ask the CPSL Commissioners a question about your ideas. he will respond to you directly. Here's the interlink: (http://forums.turfmonster.ca/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=38920&start=26&posts=28)

[DJT]

Passive Observer, I agree with your general point.

For some reason the CSA have certain criteria (which I don't think I've ever seen) that have to be met in order for any league to be considered "first division", "second division", etc. I don't see why we have to make things over-complicated and counter-intuitive. The way I look at it, "first division", "second division", etc. are labels used around the world to describe levels of play within a country in relative terms (and, may I add, in a very nice and elegant way), not in absolute terms or based on technical definitions.

Officially our USL D1 teams are considered to be "second division" and the CPSL is considered "third division". I don't really see the point of this when the former play at the highest ("first") tier in the country and the latter are part of the next-highest ("second") tier.

[strobe_z]

I'm pretty sure the USL in Canada is considered 'first' division and the leagues like the CPSL are 'second'. This causes no end of confusion though as the USL is an american-based league, and considered 2nd Division in the USA. There's been endless debate as to why the Voyageurs Cup winners couldn't be crowned Canadian champions and sent to the CONCACAF Champions Cup. There's been others that have been behind the idea that what we need is a "Canada Open Cup" to crown our own winner.... but this has never gotten off the ground despite numerous promises.

As long as we don't have a league of our own this will continue to be a problem.

As for the argument that the CPSL could be considered '1st Division', I think the reality is that this is not Thailand and that no one would accept a Provincial/Regional league to be crowned Canadian champions.

I'm a huge "Canadian national league" dreamer though.. so it'd sure be nice.

[mjoni]

I like the idea of the CPSL and the PCSL. I like the fact that they're community based and you can have two teams from the same town or more depending on interest and availability. I wonder if the CPSL and the PCSL could together form a "1st" division. These are two leagues with solid, grass-roots foundations. At the same time I don't mean that they would be integrated, but rather that they would function like the CHL with its three regional divions based on geography and the logistical difficulty of travelling great distances on a modest budget. A final playoff hosted in a different city every year would showcase good competition and give us the warm fuzzy feeling of crowning Canada's best.

A side note: couldn't there be a western league covering the prarie provinces? I've seen Edmonton's youth-system first hand and was actually quite impressed with how streamlined it is, but it's lacking the top level. Both Calgary and Edmonton have produced a lot of good youth players, Calgary Storm FC comes to mind...Winnipeg? Saskatoon? Regina? Medicine Hat? Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump FC??

My main point here is that we should build from what we have. So I am in agreement with you Passive Observer. On top of that I'd suggest a few of the following which are not decisive points in this post, but are included as suggestions on how to make it happen.

-a promotion-based system, or some competitive incentive for well-organized clubs to rise to the top.

-stadium/pitch sharing: in the cities, multiple teams could share suitable facilities.

-a Canadian Open Cup during the season to determine national club representative(s), open to USL teams

-an eventual "elite league" of x-number of teams from across Canada playing a home and away series. The regional leagues are still there and serve as the 2nd division, the top team in each region goes into a playoff for berths to the top league. At this point the Whitecaps, Impact and Lynx join the league. Okay, this is starting to get into some major wishful thinking, but, again, this is open for discussion, but not decisive for this post or this particular topic.

[Rocket Robin]

Hey we can be like England and every 4th division team can eventually call themselves 2nd division without really improving. Here's how...

1st division thinks they're so much better and calls themselves "The Premiership". Then the others upgrade to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. A few years later the new first division teams think they're better than the ones left and call themselves "Championship", then everyone moves up one more division.

2005 winners:...Premiership Chelsea, Championship Sunderland, 1st Division Luton Town, 2nd Division Yeovil Town.

Aren't there enough Voyageurs that freak out because the 'p' in CPSL means Professional?

Maybe our Canadian league champs can go down to the pre-pre-preliminary qualifying round against St Maarten in the middle of February except that the champ's players will be scattered around playing indoor league or trying to make a living. Where would be the return match be played in February? Are you first in line to buy tickets?

You don't expect a team that's never played in their NA club tourney from 90th ranked Canada to be given a bye to the quarterfinals do you?

See you guys back for the same argument two months from now!

[imported_n/a1394647443]

In the learn something new everyday category...

Gozo Island

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Gozo is an island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, second in size to Malta Island. In Maltese the island is called Ghawdex (pronounced ow-desh).

Gozo 2004/05

Final Table:

1.Gahjnsielem FC 18 15 2 1 57-16 47 Champions

2.Xewkija Tigers FC 18 14 0 4 44-26 42

3.Kercem Ajax FC 18 7 4 7 31-25 25

4.Nadur Youngsters FC 18 7 3 8 41-40 24

5.Zebbug Rovers FC 18 7 2 9 29-47 23

6.Xaghra United FC 18 4 3 11 34-56 15

-------------------------------------------------------

7.Victoria Hotspurs FC 18 0 4 14 16-42 4 Relegated

[Richard]

quote:Originally posted by strobe_z

I'm pretty sure the USL in Canada is considered 'first' division and the leagues like the CPSL are 'second'. This causes no end of confusion though as the USL is an American-based league, and considered 2nd Division in the USA. There's been endless debate as to why the Voyageurs Cup winners couldn't be crowned Canadian champions and sent to the CONCACAF Champions Cup. There's been others that have been behind the idea that what we need is a "Canada Open Cup" to crown our own winner.... but this has never gotten off the ground despite numerous promises.

As long as we don't have a league of our own this will continue to be a problem.

As for the argument that the CPSL could be considered '1st Division', I think the reality is that this is not Thailand and that no one would accept a Provincial/Regional league to be crowned Canadian champions.

I'm a huge "Canadian national league" dreamer though.. so it'd sure be nice.

From what I understand the CONCACAF Champions Cup runs from March through till May. The Canadian USL Div 1 clubs don't have their teams ready until late April, early May, too late for the early tournament rounds. Most of their players are off doing other jobs to earn money to support themselves during the USL season.