Vancouver Sun on Cndn Youth Development

[analyst]

The following is from an article in today's Vancouver Sun. As you can see at the end, its a bit dated with its comments about Richard Bates. Valentine's commenst are intriguing. Is he saying that the CSA needs to develop a curriculum for palyers, just like the school system has. I sure hope so. I applaud his comment about setting goals and holding people accountable. Andy Sharpe was a failure as President and he's gone. Now get rid if Kevan Pipe.

I'd be surprised if Clesea does what Southall says, he says they look at attitude first. I suspect they look for athleticism and speed first. A child can have agreat attitude but if his/her genetics predispose him or her to be unathletic then all the training in the world won't turn the child into a pro player.

Harris, who's in his 10th year with Chelsea, said a similar player development model is needed in Canada.

"Take Vancouver as an example," he said. "I've visited Vancouver before, and what I'm finding here is that there's good players in average clubs, average teams. The question is whether those players are getting better playing on average teams. The best players must play regularly against players of the same standard. It's the only way that they're going to get better."

Southall was impressed with the players' attitude at the camp.

"The first step in player development is that the kids have to be willing to listen and learn," he said. "That's what I'm finding here, so it's a good sign. I work with youth players in England and some of them think they know it all. They question everything you say. I've had a bit of experience in this game and I think I can pass on some good pointers. It's nice to see that the Canadian kids are polite and eager to learn."

Valentine, head coach of the North Shore Soccer Association's development centre, said youth soccer development lacks structure in Canada.

"We need to put programs and structure in place right across the country," said Valentine, a native of Manchester, England, who played for several English League clubs, the original Vancouver Whitecaps and Canadian national teams during his career. "There's no governance of the game in this country. No one's on the same page, there's no planning two or three years down the road. We have to come up with a harmonized nation-wide program that has some expectations and goals. And there has to be accountability if those expectations and goals aren't reached."

At the heart of the issue is Canada's failure to qualify for a World Cup tournament since its first, and only, appearance in 1986. One step the Canadian Soccer Association took to address the problem was hiring England native Dick Bate as CSA technical director last October. Bate, 59, has more than 30 years of coaching experience in many parts of the world, including a stint with the English Football Association as a staff coach. His five-year CSA contract runs through the end of 2009.

"In very general terms, I agree that more time and effort is needed for a unified approach to player development in Canada," said CSA chief operating officer Kevan Pipe. "Do we have to do more in this area? Absolutely. The association wants to stimulate youth player development right across the country, and we believe the hiring of Dick Bate will help us reach that goal".

[Ian Kennett]

One of the main problems with Canadian player development rests, as mentioned by Carl Valentine, is the sad fact that there are few, if any, places for exceptional 14 to 16 year old players to train and play in a professional environment in Canada. This is clearly shown by the Whitecaps current roster as posted on their website.

26 players.

13 Canadians - 4 of whom are 1983's or younger, none of whom start, and none of whom play a significant role, and none of whom will figure in Mitchell's U-20 plans oif Stephen Leslie does not improve a lot.'

9 Americans

1 Brit

2 Trinidad and Tobago

1 Jamaica

Indeed, if clubs in Canada are to have anu hope of being at the forefront of player development, then the bigger ones need to lead by example, and the provincial associations have to make that easy and a priority.

In fairness, we'll wait and see what the Whitecaps' youth academy can drum up in the very near future.

Cheers!

[Jason]

quote:Originally posted by Ian Kennett

One of the main problems with Canadian player development rests, as mentioned by Carl Valentine, is the sad fact that there are few, if any, places for exceptional 14 to 16 year old players to train and play in a professional environment in Canada. This is clearly shown by the Whitecaps current roster as posted on their website.

26 players.

13 Canadians - 4 of whom are 1983's or younger, none of whom start, and none of whom play a significant role, and none of whom will figure in Mitchell's U-20 plans oif Stephen Leslie does not improve a lot.'

9 Americans

1 Brit

2 Trinidad and Tobago

1 Jamaica

Indeed, if clubs in Canada are to have anu hope of being at the forefront of player development, then the bigger ones need to lead by example, and the provincial associations have to make that easy and a priority.

In fairness, we'll wait and see what the Whitecaps' youth academy can drum up in the very near future.

Cheers!

Is the Whitecaps senior roster the cause of the problem or the effect? I think it's the effect. The bottom line for a pro first club is to win matches. Player development is important, but can't be more important than winning games and attracting paying customers. I don't think the Whitecaps would have better attendance if they had a worse record but two or three promising teenage Canadians were on the club.

That being said, if the team has now put the proper developmental structure in place, over the next few years we should hopefully see young Canadians taking a place on the senior club side. They claim this is a priority for them so we'll see.

Jason

[ANC2]

What is the sense of investing in a proper player development structure when their is no league for players to play in. Did any of you listen to Steve Hart on radio in Toronto today. He said Canada needs a league so young players can have a carrot. At 20 years old players stop playing in Canada or simply go to American Universities.

Europe has a proper player development structure simply because its favourable for the clubs. Players are developed for the team or to be sold. Its about the dollars, clubs don't invest in youth structures simply for the youth. the whole system is backward here

[Winnipeg Fury]

Stephen Hart says Canada needs a league. Add his voice to that of Holger Osieck, Tony Waiters, Carl Valentine, Bruce Wilson, and of course yours truly, who has been saying this since day one.

Or I have Kevan Pipe saying rubbish like:

"Don, keep a second spot open in 2010. We know you're working towards having 16 clubs. I'm going to keep your feet close to the fire on that as we move forward. We have other Canadian cities who are really looking at Major League Soccer in a very serious way."

I would like to ask Kevan Pipe what exactly he hopes to accomplish by having a second MLS club in 4 years ? So we can repatriate 6 Canadians from second tier Scandinavia ? Is that his great plan !?! What does bringing Jim Brennan back from England got to do with Canadian player development ?

KP has just damaged Canadian player development by shaking his TO FC pom-poms, in the face of our three established clubs. Does he expect more Canadian entries into the USL First Division now that our 3 major markets are eyeing MLS.

I find it hiliarious that TO FC are already whining about the lack of Canadian talent, when they haven't even played a match. What a farce ! I wonder how many of you retards can figure out what will happen next ?

TOFC: It doesn't make sense that the lower level Canadian teams don't need to play a single Canadian, and TOFC does. If the USL clubs don't have import quotos, why should we have them. We can't be competitive because there aren't enough talented Canadians.

[rdroze]

quote:Originally posted by Winnipeg Fury

I find it hiliarious that TO FC are already whining about the lack of Canadian talent, when they haven't even played a match.

When exactly was Toronto FC "whining" about this?

[Winnipeg Fury]

quote:Originally posted by rdroze

When exactly was Toronto FC "whining" about this?

MLSE exec's were 'whining' about this in November 2005, when they stated they needed 3 additional senior import positions to be competitive, due to the lack of Canadian talent.

Pretty funny, considering that our three Canadian clubs have since eliminated the Canadian content quotos.

[pstain]

Have a CHL model U20 league. There are already regional leagues in this country so it would make the transition easier then having a full national league.

And I'm kind of sick seeing about hearing opinions from English coaches. They are lacking in development themselves. I want Dutch and French coaches coming in and helping out. Man I'm sick of the British influence.

[AlanDouglas]

Hmmm. Read an interesting article from an English journalist who said that between the ages of 12 and 16 a young French prospect with a pro club receives twice as many hours of training as his English counterpart, something like 2,300 compare to 1,150.

[Winnipeg Fury]

quote:Originally posted by pstain

Have a CHL model U20 league. There are already regional leagues in this country so it would make the transition easier then having a full national league.

Yes, basically the CSL (not CPSL) was a defacto U-20 league. Their were no age restrictions, but the league was big enough that our best teenagers (Peschisolido, Radzinski, Aguir, Devos, etc...) found themselves on the field playing in an extremely competitive environment.

And nobody can make comparisons to the PDL. The PDL (which does have age restrictions) is a joke in terms of quality compared to the original Canadian Soccer League. Unfortunetly there's no way those same talented stars of today would make the field with our current USL clubs that have no import rules.

Clearly this should be the priority of the CSA, unfortunetly Kevan Pipe is too busy practicing his MLS cheerleading routine.