National Partnership

[morbital]

from whitecapsfc.com

http://www.whitecapsfc.com/archive/feature10120701.aspx

[Daniel]

Montreal Impact release:

http://www.impactmontreal.com/News/News.aspx?language=EN&ArticleID=793

The Montreal Impact, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (USL D1) and Toronto FC (MLS) announced Friday that they have formed a strategic alliance in order to develop the sport of soccer in Canada and North America.

The agreement came following a meeting of the three teams’ management hosted by Toronto FC prior to the team’s home game against the New York Red Bulls on October 4th.

"While we may be competitors on the field, all three clubs share a common vision, which is the growth and development of soccer in Canada," said Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo. "We truly feel that this alliance will be beneficial for our sport, in the short and long term."

As part of this alliance, all three parties agreed that elite player development is vital to the success of the game in Canada and the three pro clubs need to take a leadership position in establishing world class player development strategies. To that effect, all three sides will continue to cooperate on developing top quality Canadian soccer talent.

The clubs also acknowledged their desire to play matches against each other throughout the 2008 season and to come up with a format that works best with each other’s league schedules.

Lastly, in the wake of the successful launch of Toronto FC into Major League Soccer and the ongoing successes of both Montréal and Vancouver in the United Soccer Leagues First Division, the teams also agreed to regularly meet to discuss the business practices that have led to those successes and how to use that success to grow the sport in Canada.

“It makes sense that we are working together, as all three clubs share a number of common themes including solid ownership and commitment towards a bright future,” said Bob Lenarduzzi, Vancouver Whitecaps FC President. “It is exciting to know that we are going to be competing on the field and working together off the field.”

“The time is right to step up and be the leaders in Canadian soccer that we aspire to be, just as we all have a desire to be the teams that young players aspire to be a part of in this country,” said Paul Beirne, Toronto FC Director of Business Operations. “The opportunities to grow the game in Canada have never been more obvious and having a strategic alliance with the other pro clubs makes obvious sense.”

Officials from all three teams will meet before the end of the year to discuss in greater detail, each point and to begin the implementation of these elements. Furthermore, the clubs as members of the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), will continue to dialogue with the CSA and its provincial stakeholders for the betterment of the game nationally.

[Gordon]

Perhaps our Voyageurs Cup boys can liaise with the teams and see if we can work that into "their desire to play matches against each other throughout the 2008 season"?

[Mpenza]

Let's see.

I'm Vancouver or Montreal and I get in a partnership with TFC to "develop world class players"...

What am I going to get out of this, knowing TFC is playing in the top level and I am in a sub-category?

[Grizzly]

quote:Originally posted by Mpenza

Let's see.

I'm Vancouver or Montreal and I get in a partnership with TFC to "develop world class players"...

What am I going to get out of this, knowing TFC is playing in the top level and I am in a sub-category?

1) Use of players until they are ready for a higher level. Also some players who may not make MLS or Europe but will be good USL players.

2) Transfer fee from TFC or whichever other club they go to. Some TFC developed players may also transfer in other direction or be loaned to get playing experience.

3) An established youth academy which will be useful when they join MLS.

[Cheeta]

4) A marketing tool to recruit and retain the more ambitious amateur players. If some sort of accord can be reached, the 'Caps and Impact can rightly say that climbing the rungs of the player development ladder within there organizations will lead a player to MLS opportunities and beyond. Can't necessarily say that playing college soccer. Not with a Canadian passport.

[Montreal_FC_fan]

5) Montreal and Vancouver might be joining the MLS much sooner then we think? I won't be surprise to see MLSE dropping their territory rights...

[Mpenza]

Ok but...

1) It is already the case. The only thing that changes is that WE would develop them.

2) We already get transfer fees... As for the rest, we don't need a partnership for that, and if we have a youth academy, we want our players to play not to the TFC rejects to play.

3) Vancouver already has an academy and Montreal has been talking about having youth teams for a while now and doesn't need to form a partnership with the two other clubs to do that (see Vancouver).

4) I can see the marketing campaign from here "Come play for the Montreal Impact's Toronto FC Academy". That really sounds like Saputo right there.

5) I tend to agree. But then, what would be the point if we'd all be working together to develop players when we're all in the same league?

Something in this "partnership" doesn't make sense to me. I don't know why, maybe because the press release is complete bullsnot from beginning to end and that they frankly don't explain anything of what this partnership will do. It sounds more like a blow to the CSA. "You obviously can't do anything right for soccer in this country, so we will. Stay tuned until we figure out what we're doing."

I can't imagine, say, Millwall enter a partnership of that sort with Newcastle. Where would the better players inevitably end up? Millwall would never make any progress. And a deal between, say Fulham and Man U would not make any sense either. Apart from the obvious promotion-relegation thingy that we don't have here, this is exactly what we're witnessing with that partnership. Something just doesn't add up, in my opinion.

That said, it is funny to see that a year and a half ago, the CSA and TFC were claining that the development of soccer in Canada was linked to the MLS. If they still think so, Montreal and Vancouver are bound to enter the MLS sooner than we'd think.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by Mpenza

Ok but...

1) It is already the case. The only thing that changes is that WE would develop them.

2) We already get transfer fees... As for the rest, we don't need a partnership for that, and if we have a youth academy, we want our players to play not to the TFC rejects to play.

3) Vancouver already has an academy and Montreal has been talking about having youth teams for a while now and doesn't need to form a partnership with the two other clubs to do that (see Vancouver).

4) I can see the marketing campaign from here "Come play for the Montreal Impact's Toronto FC Academy". That really sounds like Saputo right there.

5) I tend to agree. But then, what would be the point if we'd all be working together to develop players when we're all in the same league?

Something in this "partnership" doesn't make sense to me. I don't know why, maybe because the press release is complete bullsnot from beginning to end and that they frankly don't explain anything of what this partnership will do. It sounds more like a blow to the CSA. "You obviously can't do anything right for soccer in this country, so we will. Stay tuned until we figure out what we're doing."

I can't imagine, say, Millwall enter a partnership of that sort with Newcastle. Where would the better players inevitably end up? Millwall would never make any progress. And a deal between, say Fulham and Man U would not make any sense either. Apart from the obvious promotion-relegation thingy that we don't have here, this is exactly what we're witnessing with that partnership. Something just doesn't add up, in my opinion.

That said, it is funny to see that a year and a half ago, the CSA and TFC were claining that the development of soccer in Canada was linked to the MLS. If they still think so, Montreal and Vancouver are bound to enter the MLS sooner than we'd think.

Well your points are valid in that, without more details, these kind of statement of an alliance don't mean very much. But on the positive side, agreeing to work together is better than working against each other. For too long in country that was the case.

What I hope comes out of all this is that the three clubs find a way to identify ( at an early age) promising talent and develop those skills and talent in a professional and competitive environment. And do this before the kids quits soccer and/or takes up another sport. Which usually is around the age of 12-14.

[Martyr]

I don't think the pro teams are saying the CSA is the problem. I see it more as a symbiotic relationship. There are some excellent coaches working for the CSA. However, the CSA is not a professional club and can only provide a professional training environment for a limited number of players at each age level and only at limited points during the year. The pro teams have a vested interest in widing the player pool. They need a steady stream of Canadian talent coming through to fill their rosters... more than the small CSA National Team player pools can provide. In turn the CSA need strong professional teams so they don't have to rely completely on unsympathetic European professional sides to produce players for their World Cup teams.

[Calgary Boomer]

The CSA can't AFFORD player development. Nor can they afford to sponsor a Canada Open cup. Nor a women's qualifying tournament in Victoria, or for that matter, the Women's national team period.

I hope this is step one in the deconstruction of the CSA.

[Guest speedmonk42]

quote:Originally posted by Calgary Boomer

The CSA can't AFFORD player development. Nor can they afford to sponsor a Canada Open cup. Nor a women's qualifying tournament in Victoria, or for that matter, the Women's national team period.

I hope this is step one in the deconstruction of the CSA.

Well what exactly do you mean by that?

The CSA can never be deconstructed.

The CSA can never be replaced by a different organization.

[Calgary Boomer]

quote:Originally posted by speedmonk42

Well what exactly do you mean by that?

The CSA can never be deconstructed.

The CSA can never be replaced by a different organization.

That's not entirely true. The Australian Government stepped in and "deconstructed" their association. Perhaps the better way of putting it, is creating an alliance that has more clout than the CSA.

[jpg75]

When i read the agreement between the clubs i didn't even think of Vancouver and Montreal being feeder clubs to TFC. I still don't think that's the intent. IMO i see it as more of a sharing of knowledge and scouting, partnership in development so to speak. They'll be able to play against each other, shared scouting (geogrpahically makes sense), give feedback on training methods etc.

[brodycheese]

Exactly, mostly I can see them partaking in youth teams that will play against each other at the u-15, u-17, u-20 level. In addition I suspect that there will also be territory scouting areas, similar to the Q, Wub, and OHL (or drafts). I expect that there will be a real focus on getting the best players on these teams.

Awesome to have these guys take over the CSA develpment because now the CSA can focus on the national teams. Well we'll see on that but hopefully this will come to fruition

[Richard]

Far better that this kind of positive, constructive approach be taken in partnership and co-operation, especially with the CSA, than just constantly calling for complete abolition of the CSA which would not happen anyway. If the CSA has the support of the professional clubs who take on a large part of the responsibility for top youth player development then the whole situation can be improved for everybody.

[ag futbol]

Some form of the CSL seems like an obvious route to the major junior soccer we’ve all been calling for. TFC already draws on a few players for their reserve team and the impact have their side set.

If I were a professional club going into any sort of partnership with the CSA, I’d be doing it with both eyes open. The organizational strife and backwards structure makes it difficult for the organization to accomplish one clear vision, let alone work with anyone else. While the CSA is an obvious partner, it hardly seems like a source of stability. The good news is that the clubs have the power, and the CSA is realistically just along for the ride.