Canada: "What we must do to end the embarrassment"

[sstackho]

A rather impressive article from the Ottawa Citizen. I don't recognize the author, Richard Starnes, but he has done some good research here.

Owen the lonely: Owen Hargreaves is the only Canadian at the World Cup. It's been 20 years since Canada qualified. Here's what we must do to end the embarrassment.

Richard Starnes

The Ottawa Citizen

2576 words

11 June 2006

Ottawa Citizen

Final

D1 / Front

English

Copyright © 2006 Ottawa Citizen

The opening whistle has blown on the world's largest, most hyped, sporting event and Canada is sitting on the sidelines -- again. There's not a Canadian flag, fan or player to be seen across Germany as World Cup 2006 gets under way.

We've only made it to the finals once, in 1986, and the occasion produced faces as embarrassingly red as the Canadian jersey. No goals in three games and sent home disgraced.

Since then we haven't even come close to qualifying.

For several years, Canada was coached by German Holger Osieck. When he was dumped in 2004, former Canadian international Frank Yallop took over and since then there have been signs the Canadian national team has been improving.

But earlier this week, Yallop shocked the Canadian Soccer Association by quitting to become coach of the L.A. Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

CSA officials said Yallop left for "personal and professional" reasons, whatever that may mean. Yallop has made no comment on his abrupt resignation.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Canada's only connection to the finals is Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves, who had to leave home at 16 to further his career. He moved to Bayern Munich, Germany's top team, and later chose to snub Canada and play instead for England, where his father was born.

It has been a remarkable achievement for the best player ever to come out of this country. He has become a regular defensive-midfield starter with Bayern and has won himself a place on the England squad despite playing not one minute of his club soccer in England. All this with precious little help from his own country.

There are suggestions he opted to earn a place with England because he knew Canada was incapable of making it to the World Cup finals, soccer's holy grail.

He was right.

At the grass roots, Canadian soccer appears to be thriving. Some 850,000 play the game, about half of them boys and men, and half of those under 12. Plenty of potential, you might think.

Unfortunately, far too few of those young seeds grow into sturdy saplings around whom we can build a national team capable of qualifying for the World Cup.

Canada is ranked 83rd in the world, sandwiched between Oman and Jordan. Obviously we are not getting the job done.

The Canadian Soccer Association knows this as well as anyone, which is why, some eight months ago, it managed to persuade senior English Football Association technical director Richard Bate to become its technical boss.

The plan was for him to look at three technical areas: the six national training centres across the country, which bring in kids for a weekend once a month for special coaching; national youth teams; and coaching development.

So he set off across the country, talking and watching and learning more disturbing things than he must have wanted.

He found a broad network of politicking within provincial soccer associations is hampering development of the national team.

"I know this is a judgment after a small time," he says. "But there is a powerful attitude of: 'My province or my club is more important than my country.' The politics is massively getting in the way."

"For example, coaches would be happy, I am sure, to come on every coaching course they could and become as qualified as possible to produce the players to play for the nation.

"It's the politics or politicians that run the game who are the ones that say they're not doing this or not doing that. They are putting the block, in one sense, on the development of potential.

"Parochial is how I describe it.

"It's more important to the clubs who get the money and get the players to win the club championship than it is to release their players to play for the national team in what you might call a 'friendly' international."

Guy Bradbury, CEO of the Ontario Soccer Association, recognizes there are difficulties and a need for discussion.

"In Ontario, we do recognize that is an issue," he says. "Club development is very important at a community level. A lot of these clubs are still community based and take a lot of pride in development."

He says his organization is eager to develop a process for recognizing the best players and has a goal of developing nine players in each age group so they are good enough to play on national teams.

"As you can see, we are certainly not averse to national team promotion," he says. "I do believe there is a beginning to that type of dialogue so at least everyone is on the same pathway to working for success."

Bate is the first to agree that after such a short time in Canada it would be presumptuous for him to have the answers.

But he does want to influence a change in provincial attitude. He points out his mandate is not politics and he is not a politician, he is a technical expert.

"It's really up to the CSA and the provinces to come to terms with the fact if we are not doing very well, can we do better, can we sit round a table, agree a better way forward for the nation and, consequently, for the provinces and the clubs."

Removing the possessive attitude within provincial associations is only one part of the problem. Unlike hockey, Canadian soccer has no structure for developing a player; no vision a young player can chase.

Hockey has a well-established route for the youngster dreaming of becoming the next Wayne Gretzky. Work your way through the junior ranks with junior A hockey as the goal. Reach that plateau and keep working towards an NHL contract.

Bate points out the talented teenager needs a standard of competition that is always pushing him to be better.

"You may be a talented player, but you'll be playing somebody like the Moosehead Rockets each week where the level of competition isn't sufficient to stretch you from your comfort zone," he says. "That isn't sufficient to push the barrier towards higher standards. The level of competition for the potential international is not good enough.

"There has to be an incentive for him to be the best he can be and to stay in the game. Here, there's nothing."

The nowhere-to-go cry can be heard whenever the subject of Canada's failure at the highest level is discussed.

TSN analyst Dick Howard, who also has close working connections to the world governing body of soccer, FIFA, points out there are three United Soccer League teams in this country at present -- Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto Lynx and Montreal Impact. These are the traditional hotbeds of the Canadian game.

They play in a 12-team North American league that is one step down from Major League Soccer, the league with standards close to the best in Europe. Almost exactly half the U.S. squad in the World Cup finals plays in the MLS.

"In Ontario, which has more participation than any province, there is a major dropoff after 16," Howard says. "It may be cars or girls or other things but the fact is there is no incentive, nowhere for good youngsters to aspire to.

"For a young player we have a six-month season at best and salaries at the Toronto Lynx last year ranged from $5,000 to $15,000. What sort of incentive is that? The best players have to go overseas and some have done well. But there is no attainable dream in this country."

So, in all this gloom, is there a glimmer of a chance that we will see our red Canadian soccer jerseys at the next World Cup in South Africa in 2010, or perhaps the one four years after that in an as-yet un-selected South American country?

A year ago the answer would have been glum, with long-faced officials trying to put a brave face on an impossible situation.

Several things have taken place since then to offer a hint of hope.

The CSA suggests the appointment of as experienced an international technical director as Bate is one indication it is pushing for imperative improvements.

It also points to the importance of Canada hosting the world under-20 championship next year. This event is second only to the World Cup in soccer importance and is the third-largest sporting spectacle -- by TV ratings -- after the World Cup and the Olympics. Ottawa's Frank Clair Stadium will be among the venues for some of the best junior talent on Earth.

To land the event is a coup for Canada and has the potential to put hefty extra funds in the coffers. But it has little to do with developing a World Cup squad.

It's another development that is catching the most attention.

Until 1999, when it was torn down, there had been a sports stadium of some sort at Exhibition Place in Toronto since 1879. This was where the Argos played for 29 years; where 12 Grey Cups were played; where the Blue Jays performed for 10 years.

Now there is rebirth under way and it is soccer that is taking centre stage. Last October, Toronto City Council approved construction of a 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium with major funding from federal, provincial and municipal governments.

Soccer specific means seating starts close to the action -- no running tracks or wide spaces between stands and the field. And soccer specific means an exciting venue for a new professional franchise.

Next year, Toronto FC will take the field as the first Canadian team in the MLS. It is a franchise landed by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the organization that also runs both the Maple Leafs and the Raptors out of the Air Canada Centre.

Toronto FC is a significant new soccer face run by one of North America's leading sporting organizations and it represents new hope for budding soccer professionals and, by extension, for the development of a competitive Canadian team.

Bate suggests it could be a team on which a young player can set his sights.

"In England or Brazil, players start to play at six," he says. "And a player knows there is a pro team outlet when he gets to 18 or 19. Here, right now, there is nothing."

In addition to Toronto FC, there are encouraging signs new soccer-specific stadiums will be built in Montreal and Vancouver. With them could go two more MLS franchises and more outlets for Canada's best young players.

Bate hopes Toronto FC will also run its own junior team which will play the best juniors at other MLS clubs from Washington to Los Angeles to Houston. That way the best youngsters from here could play against the best youngsters in the U.S in much the same way the system works in England where teenagers are registered with major clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United or Tottenham and play against one another regularly.

"There's nothing like better players playing better players week in, week out," he says.

Bate is not the only one putting faith in the new franchise.

"Right now there are no role models for youngsters and there's nowhere for them to go," says Craig Forrest, the former West Ham and Canada goalkeeper and one of the best players to come out of this country. "I'm hoping the MLS coming to Toronto is a step in the right direction."

Howard suggests young players will finally have their own homegrown Canadian soccer heroes which will, in turn, help build a Canadian buzz for the game and viable, quality outlets for aspiring international players.

While there is promise on the horizon, Bate is adamant very serious work must be done at a younger age.

He is encouraged by what he describes as the "massive" number of children under 12 playing the game. He believes it's a bonus that needs to be exploited for the long term good of the international game.

The trouble is 94 per cent of these children are "coached" by someone with absolutely no formal coaching qualifications.

"They are amateur enthusiasts, parent coaches who, with the best will in the world, will be inadequate because they don't have the education. There are a lot of very good people ... We need to turn these amateur enthusiasts into more educated experts. The question is: How do we service them with decent tuition?"

To tackle this, it is imperative a plan be developed by the CSA with all the provinces.

Bate says the CSA is responsible for the development of the game, but does not have the money to put plans he may come up with into practice.

"If it (CSA) wants to do something it has to have the finances and the personnel to get the job done," he says. "If it wants money, it has to go to the country, the parents, the clubs and say: 'Can you give us the money to do the job.'

"That's bloody nonsense. I've never, ever been in a football country where the national governing body is the weakest body in the country.

"Clubs have got the power because they have the finance. The provinces have got the power because they have the finance and the clubs.

"So, if I want the CSA to put my plans into action, we haven't the money. We have to appeal to boards of provinces and say: 'Please donate us money.' In every other country, the people who run the game are at the top of the pyramid."

Bate may be new on our soccer scene, but he has been quick to identify problems. Meanwhile, he offers an optimistic view on Canada's World Cup aspirations.

He suggests we are close to qualifying out of our region -- CONCACAF. He says the U.S. and Mexico are clearly the region's strongest teams and will always qualify. Costa Rica will qualify regularly.

"After that there is a pool of six to eight countries for one place. There is not a great deal between us. On a good day, with a good tournament, Canada could qualify for the next World Cup."

[Free kick]

Yes, It is a good article. From a development standpoint, the burden of responsabilty needs to shift more away from the hands of provincial associations and those 94% of coaches that Bates mentions who dont know the game and towards private interests. Specifically, the profesional clubs. Hopefully, now that MLSE has a stake, perhaps you will start to see things change. Thats the advantage you have with entities like MLS and Saputo involved in the game.

Having seen Costa Rica in the last WC's and on Friday, I disagree that they should be viewed as a "will qualify regularly" side and that we are amongst the group that can battle for the final 4th spot. Right now CRC is better, but there is no reason that we shouldn't be better and that we shouldn't strive to be better than CRC. I think that could even be achieved even in the near term. They give up a lot of goals and dont strike me as result oriented soccer nation. If they were, they would have been in the round of sixteen at the last WC. Unlike, CRC, we have that desire to win and with the right players or proper development, we should be able to score against these guys. The fact that we only scored one goal in two games against them in WCQ sums up our problems on the pitch.

For some reason, I am not confident that the politicians, provincial associations, reginal bodies..etc etc will change their ways and start thinking terms of the bigger picture. I think that they are more interested in making sure the kids look sharp/cute in their uniforms. Yallop was on the radio the other day and mentioned that, unlike Canada, in the rest of the world, the mens national team is viewed as the flag ship of the program. You can easily read between the lines what he meant by that; especially from a funding standpoint. Thats another reason why you can't count on politicians for soccer development in Canada.

[Daniel]

1. The CSA needs to split up into two entities, one in charge of the National teams and one in charge of the domestic game.

2. "The opening whistle has blown on the world's largest, most hyped, sporting event and Canada is sitting on the sidelines -- again. There's not a Canadian flag, fan or player to be seen across Germany as World Cup 2006 gets under way." Come on, I know it's an interesting line, but it's abd to start a (good) article with such an outright falsitude.

[Marc]

The article is pretty good, but it's easy to tune in once every four years to critisize Canadian soccer, and then have the attention wither away during the qualification process.

[Marc]

Just to add...dont' get me wrong, we need to be successful to garner the media attention, but part of "ending the embarassment" is to delivering some attention to the support during the interim non-World Cup years.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Sometimes I think the developmental angle is a load. Tune into the WC for an hour. Does Japan have more talent than Canada? Not if we have our best players committed to our cause. You can't tell me Australia qualified because of their new A-league. Get a decent manager, get our best 18-20 players together on a regular basis, and play some games! Bate can run around the country making speechs like this but it's not going to build the English pyramid. He won't even build the Maltese league! Who cares at the end of the day? We're developing good players only a notch or two below world class in spite of all these problems. Get them together, feeling like countrymen. This is the only difference I see between us and Australia.

[BrennanFan]

we just need some kind of a deal with a club or 2 in europe to send our good young players from the national training centers with no better options. is that really so damn hard? or maybe an exchange program with some south american country, where the players with the not so bright soccer futures from there can come here to play at the training centres and get a free college education or something, and we can send some players there to train with a decent club.

[dbailey62]

I don't believe for a second that Canada was sent home in disgrace with faces as red as our uniforms.

We impressed in all our games (to some degree, in some ways) and were not embarrassed in any. Yes, we lost all three and yes we didn't score a goal but it's not like we were being shellacked.

The author of the story says many valid things but his view of Mexico 86 is based on research with no context or understanding of the context.

That's where the story fails.

Also, in those days, only 24 teams qualified!

db

[Gian-Luca]

Agreed David, and the part about us not even coming close to qualifying since 1986 is a load of b.s. - we were 55 minutes (or a wrongfully disallowed offside goal) from qualifying for 1994.

It's too bad that such OTT & incorrect comments have to detract from the type of article that we need more of.

[KAS]

quote:The plan was for him to look at three technical areas: the six national training centres across the country, which bring in kids for a weekend once a month for special coaching; national youth teams; and coaching development.

ONE WEEKEND A MONTH! WTF! Maybe I read this wrong. Is this just for the kids, with the national players getting real training time, or are our best youth players also deprived. Since many of the players on the U-17 and U-20 teams are without a club and tied to these NTCs, you would think that they would expand the capabilities and staff at these places so that they would atleast come somewhat close to a professional club's youth academy. If the CSA does make any money from the U-20 World Cup next summer, then expanding the staff of the NTCs would be a good place to start spending that money.

quote:He found a broad network of politicking within provincial soccer associations is hampering development of the national team.

"I know this is a judgment after a small time," he says. "But there is a powerful attitude of: 'My province or my club is more important than my country.' The politics is massively getting in the way."

"It's more important to the clubs who get the money and get the players to win the club championship than it is to release their players to play for the national team in what you might call a 'friendly' international."

Well, this is obviously a problem. Ok all you expert fans, can any of you name specific situations like what is described above? Can you name the clubs/provincial associations/individuals who are known for acting like such jackasses?

quote: Bate says the CSA is responsible for the development of the game, but does not have the money to put plans he may come up with into practice.

"If it (CSA) wants to do something it has to have the finances and the personnel to get the job done," he says. "If it wants money, it has to go to the country, the parents, the clubs and say: 'Can you give us the money to do the job.'

"That's bloody nonsense. I've never, ever been in a football country where the national governing body is the weakest body in the country.

"Clubs have got the power because they have the finance. The provinces have got the power because they have the finance and the clubs.

"So, if I want the CSA to put my plans into action, we haven't the money. We have to appeal to boards of provinces and say: 'Please donate us money.' In every other country, the people who run the game are at the top of the pyramid."

This is clearly stupid. The CSA should be the boss, not the provincial associations. Is there any way to correct this, other than blowing up the whole system and starting fresh like they did in Australia? How much of the CSA's money comes from below? Besides a successful U-20 World Cup and a few corporate sponsors, does the CSA have any real plans to gain some financial independence?

BTW, this is a great article, and I'm glad we have Bates.

[sj]

all those issues are known issues for at least 2 decades,

Did the CSA really found out about them only after having Bates going across the country.

For what the CSA are getting paid to do they could not figure that out by themselves?

I am sure those Issues has been mentioned again in Holger's blueprintof some 8 yrs ago

We are being told now about things that we are already knew 20 = yrs ago and this is suppose to new developments in the soccer landscape of this country that needs tackles if we need to move forward.

sounds like the CSA staff is as incompetent in identifying quality players as they are at idenifying and solving shortcomings

in every business there are shortcomings and issues that is why we have a paid Ceo, Directors and Managers to solve problems.

after 20 yrs of fruitless atempts

i'll say they should be out of a job.

they knew when the took the job what kind of a budget they would have to do it with.

now after 20+ yrs are they saying it could not be done and can't be done under those financial restrictions

they have been buying time for the last 20 yrs and are hoping that they can buy another 20 yrs by releasing the same old unsolved issues while we keep watching more and more teams most alarmingly in our own region surpassing us to the point where a playoff spot is seems to be the only thing we can aim for.

without accountability is should be the driving force not money.

[Marc]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Agreed David, and the part about us not even coming close to qualifying since 1986 is a load of b.s. - we were 55 minutes (or a wrongfully disallowed offside goal) from qualifying for 1994.

It's too bad that such OTT & incorrect comments have to detract from the type of article that we need more of.

It's a common misconception. This week I've already heard that Canada is ranked lower than Greenland, that don't have a single player playing in Europe, and that we went to the World Cup and got trashed.

[fishman]

With respect to the information re: the NTC program...

The NTC - Prairies train from September - April; in that training scheme, they have two technical sessions and two strength and conditioning sessions. They consolidate and meet (the groups are from Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) at least four times for a "scouting weekend." Matches are played (usually three during the weekend), with several CSA coaches in attendance. Further, they are monitored by NCAA scouts, CIS coaches, etc..

It is wrong to describe the NTC training as once-weekly.

However, it is correct to mention the parochial, provincial attitudes in this country. The tail wags the dog. Not only do provincial associations pressure the CSA, the districts / clubs in each province wield big sticks with their respective associations.

It is unlikely to change any time soon as those attitudes are firmly entrenched. Infighting is rampant, meaningful dialogue is nearly non-existant, and next to nothing gets done to rectify the situation. That situation - the inverted pyramid, where the national body and its needs are afterthoughts, and local associations always look for their pound of flesh - is here to stay until such times as someone very charismatic can influence voting members to change opinions and / or push influential thinkers to consider sitting as directors on the provincial boards.

Is that Mr. Bate? I have heard him speak and have read his philosophy on development; he's a bright, insightful man. However, he has little ability to change what is happening at either the local, provincial or the grassroots levels. Until such times as a national vision can be uniformly applied, it ain't gonna change.

[BrennanFan]

quote:Originally posted by dbailey62

I don't believe for a second that Canada was sent home in disgrace with faces as red as our uniforms.

We impressed in all our games (to some degree, in some ways) and were not embarrassed in any. Yes, we lost all three and yes we didn't score a goal but it's not like we were being shellacked.

really? i thought that whole campaign was embarassing. losing to guatemala at home is damn embarrassing. and i would put our home loss to costa rica under the shellacking department. it really baffled me how frank could stay on as coach after those embarrassments, its really unheard of for a coach to stay on after such a failure, prep time or not, the unacceptable was accepted.

[jonovision]

quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan

really? i thought that whole campaign was embarassing. losing to guatemala at home is damn embarrassing. and i would put our home loss to costa rica under the shellacking department. it really baffled me how frank could stay on as coach after those embarrassments, its really unheard of for a coach to stay on after such a failure, prep time or not, the unacceptable was accepted.

For most of this thread, the discussion has been about Canada's performance in Mexico '86, not the recent qualifiers.

[Guest speedmonk42]

quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan

really? i thought that whole campaign was embarassing. losing to guatemala at home is damn embarrassing. and i would put our home loss to costa rica under the shellacking department. it really baffled me how frank could stay on as coach after those embarrassments, its really unheard of for a coach to stay on after such a failure, prep time or not, the unacceptable was accepted.

Dude, I think he is talking about 1986.

[Guest speedmonk42]

All this with precious little help from his own country.

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

Right and OH just popped up out of nowhere and waltzed into the BM squad.... WTF kind of statement is that.

Without the help of thousands of volunteers in the soccer community in Calgary and beyond, OH would be working in Wal-Mart today.

[harwood]

The ONLY Canadian at the WC is the linesman Hector Vergara from Winnipeg. He did the BRA - CRO game (and others?). Must have done a good job as I don't think it made the headlines.

OH chose England over Canada and we should all be spitting every time we mention his name <spit>

Although I would have made the same choice!

It is a very good article but like Mr Bate says until the various organizations make an effort to change their ways, we'll continue to watch from the sidelines. I don't however, like the "We don't have any money to share our vision" cry and find it to be a bit of a piss-poor excuse.

I'm normally an ABT fan but from this I must now hope that the folks running Toronto FC do a good job. They don't have any of the clowns that have dabbled in the Sports Entertainment industry here in Ottawa do they?

[harwood]

The ONLY Canadian at the WC is the linesman Hector Vergara from Winnipeg. He did the BRA - CRO game (and others?). Must have done a good job as I don't think it made the headlines.

OH chose England over Canada and we should all be spitting every time we mention his name <spit>

Although I would have made the same choice!

It is a very good article but like Mr Bate says until the various organizations make an effort to change their ways, we'll continue to watch from the sidelines. I don't however, like the "We don't have any money to share our vision" cry and find it to be a bit of a piss-poor excuse.

I'm normally an ABT fan but from this I must now hope that the folks running Toronto FC do a good job. They don't have any of the clowns that have dabbled in the Sports Entertainment industry here in Ottawa do they?

[sstackho]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO (CP) - Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment have scheduled a press conference for Monday, June 19 at 10am at Ricoh Coliseum to announce the appointment of Lonie Glieberman as the first General Manager of Toronto FC.

[Grizzly]

sstackho did you suddenly metamorphosize into G-man?

[G-Man]

quote:Originally posted by harwood

The ONLY Canadian at the WC is the linesman Hector Vergara from Winnipeg. He did the BRA - CRO game (and others?). Must have done a good job as I don't think it made the headlines.

OH chose England over Canada and we should all be spitting every time we mention his name <spit>

Although I would have made the same choice!

It is a very good article but like Mr Bate says until the various organizations make an effort to change their ways, we'll continue to watch from the sidelines. I don't however, like the "We don't have any money to share our vision" cry and find it to be a bit of a piss-poor excuse.

I'm normally an ABT fan but from this I must now hope that the folks running Toronto FC do a good job. They don't have any of the clowns that have dabbled in the Sports Entertainment industry here in Ottawa do they?

being born and raised in Calgary says Canada to me.

[G-Man]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

sstackho did you suddenly metamorphosize into G-man?

that was a good line. better than anything I came up with.

[Kurosawa1555362267]

quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan

we just need some kind of a deal with a club or 2 in europe to send our good young players from the national training centers with no better options. is that really so damn hard? or maybe an exchange program with some south american country, where the players with the not so bright soccer futures from there can come here to play at the training centres and get a free college education or something, and we can send some players there to train with a decent club.

Here's a news about that, we now officially have that in Québec.

http://www.rds.ca/soccer/chroniques/206044.html

Partenariat entre le FC Metz et la FSQ

Vendredi 09 juin 2006 - Dans le cadre de son programme de développement technique, la Fédération de soccer du Québec a choisi de s'associer au FC METZ, club professionnel français afin de permettre à ses jeunes espoirs d'avoir une ouverture vers le foot européen.

Par cette convention de partenariat, la Fédération de soccer du Québec s'engage à favoriser l'organisation annuelle d'un stage de détection du FC METZ au Québec et/ou de permettre aux observateurs du FC METZ de suivre la compétition rassemblant les meilleurs talents québécois.

Le FC METZ pourra ensuite accueillir des jeunes espoirs masculins en stage d'essai et offrira la possibilité à deux jeunes espoirs québécois de passer une année complète de formation en France en qualité d'internes de son centre de formation.

Le club français s'engage aussi à favoriser l'organisation de stages collectifs et camps d'entraînement des différentes Équipes du Québec (U14-U16-U18) à Metz.

Le FC METZ est en période reconstruction, il s'agit d'un club qui a connu gloire et période faste.

Il a gagné la Coupe de France en 1984 et 1988, la Coupe de ligue en 1986 et 1996. Après avoir été vice-champion de France en 1997-1998, l'équipe a été reléguée en ligue 2 en 2002.

Depuis la présence en ligue 1 se veut régulière. Il est important de noter que l'équipe des 16 ans a été couronnée championne de France en 2005.

Après le Sport-Études / CNHP provincial voici donc une autre façon d'aider les athlètes élites dans leur cheminement de carrière.

Metz is not a big club but it's a good start.

[pstain]

quote:Originally posted by fishman

With respect to the information re: the NTC program...

The NTC - Prairies train from September - April; in that training scheme, they have two technical sessions and two strength and conditioning sessions. They consolidate and meet (the groups are from Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) at least four times for a "scouting weekend." Matches are played (usually three during the weekend), with several CSA coaches in attendance. Further, they are monitored by NCAA scouts, CIS coaches, etc..

It is wrong to describe the NTC training as once-weekly.

Why don't they have more technical sessions? Strength can be developed later on while technique has to be developed early on.