CSA Press Conference November 12

[Richard]

CSA has called a media conference for Monday 12 November 2007

"Canadian Soccer Association to address media on women's national team's road to the 2008 Olympics and the future for soccer in Canada.

Dominic Maestracci, Canadian Soccer Association Chairman of the Board

Even Pellerud, Canada's women's national team head coach"

[Vic]

Visit by CSA president gives women's coach hope for changes in organization

VANCOUVER - A visit by the new acting president of the Canadian Soccer Association has given Even Pellerud hope there may be positive changes coming for the troubled organization.

Dominic Maestracci, who was voted into the position last month, flew to Vancouver last weekend to meet with Pellerud, coach of the women's national team.

"That was a positive thing," Pellerud said Thursday. "He made the effort to come over and that has not happened before. It gave me the belief that this guy wants to do his best and wants to start from scratch.

"It was a positive step. I was encouraged by that."

Pellerud will have a better idea of what support the women's program can expect when he meets with the CSA Monday in Ottawa. He plans to outline what the women need to qualify for this summer's Olympic Games in China and what the program requires to grow and improve.

"I'm not going to ask for money," Pellerud said. "I will bring up more, from a political standpoint, how things can change, which will be a long range of topics, including budget, but (also) other topics."

Pellerud was outspoken last month in his frustration with the CSA. He said Canada's disappointing early exit from the FIFA women's World Cup could partly be blamed on the CSA not spending enough money so his team could play more games against international competition.

He was also frustrated that the CSA declined a chance to host the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Victoria, citing a lack of money as a reason.

The women's program has a budget of $700,000, of which the CSA contributes around $155,000.

Most of the team's funding comes from the Canadian Olympic Committee, Sport Canada, and Greg Kerfoot, a Vancouver millionaire who helped finance a residency program.

CONCACAF is expected to meet next week to decide when and where the Olympic qualifying tournament will be. Six teams are expected to compete at the tournament. The top two will represent CONCACAF, the region that covers North America, Central America and the Caribbean, at the Beijing Summer Games.

The defending Olympic champion Americans are almost guaranteed a berth. That will probably leave Canada and Mexico fighting for the second spot.

The tournament could be in late February or in March. It's expected to be held in Haiti, but a slim chance remains it could be hosted in Canada.

The CSA has received offers from the Vancouver Whitecaps of the United Soccer Leagues and the Quebec Soccer Federation.

"What I keep hearing is the chances are very minor, but it's still there," Pellerud said.

Pellerud would like his team to play at least five international games before the qualifying competition.

"We can only do so much in camp training," he said. "What we are lacking is games. If the tournament takes place in March, five or six games would be the ideal scenario."

He'd also like to play some of those games at home.

"I would love to," Pellerud said. "We need somebody to want to host us and have the CSA approve. That's the first stage.

"The second stage is to have somebody willing to come this way. We are a little short of time. January and February is not the best time to get teams to come this way."

The national team didn't play one game in Canada in the months leading up to the women's World Cup.

The CSA has plenty of other issues to deal with. Maestracci says he wants to hire a general secretary and a technical director.

It also faces a lawsuit filed by Fred Nykamp, announced as the organization's CEO in May. He is suing the CSA for more than $1.75 million for wrongful hiring and firing. He left his job as the CEO of Canada Basketball to accept the position before the CSA's board voted against the hire.

Pellerud's contract with the CSA ends after the Olympics. He still won't comment on whether he wants to stay in Canada or look for a new job elsewhere.

[The Ref]

Is this it for Pellerud or just more of the same.

[Vic]

Just like the CSA in general, it's a waste of time to talk about going forward until you determine and address what went wrong. Two major tournaments this year and two major performances below expectations. And not just the World Cup, in the Pan Am's a 7-0 loss to Brazil and a semi-final loss to a team of kids still in their teens (which the CSA has 'accidentally' omitted from the results on their website).

The basic tenet of a results-driven organization is accountability. Without that, it's merely amateur.

[CoachRich]

Yes, "it's merely amateur". If the CSA would fund the program so they could properly prepare & give them some home games w/ top competition maybe you could say it could be as you say "basic tenet of a results-driven organization is accountability" W/out friendlies vs your top competition you can not benchmark a team that practices & plays boy teams.

[The Ref]

quote:Originally posted by CoachRich

Yes, "it's merely amateur". If the CSA would fund the program so they could properly prepare & give them some home games w/ top competition maybe you could say it could be as you say "basic tenet of a results-driven organization is accountability" W/out friendlies vs your top competition you can not benchmark a team that practices & plays boy teams.

I am not being sarcastic or joking, but why don't you get Kerfoot to finance bringing over a few top teams?

[CoachRich]

Problem is still the CSA has to approve it ie. the CSA already turned down the 1 proposal by the Caps/Kerfoot to host the Olympic qualifer but thankfully after the loss of the WWC to Germany the CSA is taking another look at the proposal.

It's good that Maestracci visited Pellerud as it's a step in the right direction for the CSA as IMO the WNT is not going to let the CSA repeat their lack of support they gave to the WNT for the WWC in China. The CSA has to wake up & support the WNT programs otherwise they are going to have a major PR nightmare that will make the last time the WNT went after the CSA for game revenues look like a birthday party.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by CoachRich

Yes, "it's merely amateur". If the CSA would fund the program so they could properly prepare & give them some home games w/ top competition maybe you could say it could be as you say "basic tenet of a results-driven organization is accountability" W/out friendlies vs your top competition you can not benchmark a team that practices & plays boy teams.

Stop it, we saw what our team did in China while being one for most properly prepared team in the tournament.

[The Ref]

CoachRich, do you know the reason(s) why the team doctor resigned?

[CoachRich]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

Stop it, we saw what our team did in China while being one for most properly prepared team in the tournament.

Interesting how many opinions differ from those of the WNT who are in the program & have to deal w/ CSA. The WNT opinion & views on the subject are well published in the media.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by CoachRich

Interesting how many opinions differ from those of the WNT who are in the program & have to deal w/ CSA. The WNT opinion & views on the subject are well published in the media.

Yes, and that's just that, their opinion.

Let's just look at the facts that you stop ignoring:

The girls had a long residency camp together, something that not all the teams in the WWC had.

The girls had the third highest number of games played in the year preceding the WWC.

Yes it would be nice if they could've played at home, but we aren't speaking of an U-10 team who needs to play in front of their parents, so I would hope people and the team stop using that as an excuses.

Bottomline, the CSA way to run thr program was disgusting this year but the way our WNT players and staff are using false excuses to hide their poor results is disgusting me as well.

[CoachRich]

Yes, & that's just your opinion as well.

The facts that you bring forth don't even consider what the other teams did in leading up to the WWC. ie. do you understand that the majority of the Brazil players play in professional leagues in Europe & the Far East. The Euro teams have the same pro leauges to develop their players & are able to travel easily to do friendlies.....one of the reason why it's so hard to get them to come to NA.

I value the WNT opinion as they are the ones there who are preparing against the competition not you. They had a program they had designed to prepare for the WWC but it was not supported by the CSA. Hence their program was not complete & that's a fact.

Obviously you do not understand that the residency camp is a only part of the program. Playing vs. competition is another part of the program. Playing at home is another part of the program & so on. Bottom-line is when you design a program & an entity like the CSA is not able to support w/ $ or approve other benefits you need to complete your program there are reasons for taking ownership & talking about the areas of the program that were not completed & why. Those are not false excuses but facts.

The way you describe what went on & how you feel about it is your opinion but to use the words "WNT players and staff are using false excuses to hide their poor results is disgusting me as well" demonstrates that you are not a supporter who supports the WNT. If you did you would understand it was their program & their right to evaluate it as they were in it & knew what it would take to get to them to their goals as a athlete not as an observer like you.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

I'd say its even more disgusting. Furthermore, it unproductive unconstructive and even detrimental to soccer. If the Players cant understand why they lost, then there is no hope for them.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by CoachRich

Yes, & that's just your opinion as well.

The facts that you bring forth don't even consider what the other teams did in leading up to the WWC. ie. do you understand that the majority of the Brazil players play in professional leagues in Europe & the Far East. The Euro teams have the same pro leauges to develop their players & are able to travel easily to do friendlies.....one of the reason why it's so hard to get them to come to NA.

Total Nonesence. And what does that have to do with CSA and funding?

Nothing is going to change mind anyways.....

[Richard]

Well, no matter how many preparatory games our girls did or didn't play, no matter how long they spent in the residency camp they were beaten in the one WC game that counted and that's the way it goes with soccer - end of story - and so I might add was the USA. Turn over the page and look forward to the next tournament.

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by CoachRich

Yes, & that's just your opinion as well.

The facts that you bring forth don't even consider what the other teams did in leading up to the WWC. ie. do you understand that the majority of the Brazil players play in professional leagues in Europe & the Far East. The Euro teams have the same pro leauges to develop their players & are able to travel easily to do friendlies.....one of the reason why it's so hard to get them to come to NA.

So why do you not encourage the women to play in the Euro pro leagues the simple truth is the Kerfoot camp was done to keep players at home within reach of Pelerud and the Whitecaps.... as the saying goes out mouths of babys the real answer.. they should have played in Euro leagues all winter in competitive enviorments with there jobs on the line each week... surely it would have bene cheaper to have the girls playing in germany two players per team.. the CSA and Kerfoot is he really is the benefactor you belive him to be..funding the cost of an apartment to share and food from the players paid by the Carded athlete process..since they are all carded..seems pretty simple bet the German top teams would take a free or nearly free player ....dont you Coach Rich..?

Send them over now for trails and put Even back in Norway to gather them together once every two months for a national game in Europe...we dont play home games anyways.. and it will mean Even is able to look for a job more effectivly based on his results... a solution all around...

[terpfan68]

Do you really think that the majority of the national team players would leave their familiess and country to travel to Europe and play for the small amount of money they would be paid? When they played for their colleges in the US they received a valuable education (up to $30 000 per year) and were reletively close to home. If the want to play and can be signed and that is not a given with the restrictive European rules they they should go, but if that isn't possible then a residency camp is the best we can do.

[Richard]

I don't remember the carding rules too well - been quite a few years since my son was in the player pool - but I suspect if the girls sign a professional contract in Europe then they forfeit their $18,000 Canadian carding money plus probably the $20,000 Kerfoot stipend for the residency program which together is probably quite a bit more more than many of them would be paid in Europe. Nevermind those still on NCAA scholarships.

[Grizzly]

Unlike the Men's Leagues, I don't think the level of competition they would get in Europe would be much different than the level in North America. It is also very hard to arrange friendlies for the women because there is only a very limited number of national teams who would give them better competition than playing college teams in the region.

[terpfan68]

I don't know how you can rank women's club football, but at least one site has done so. Here is a link to a ranking that was done on January 21, 2007 and they give the source as arsenal.com.

http://forum.football.co.uk/about23178.html

Notice that there are TWO Canadian clubs in the top 9. That and the US College system should be more than enough to keep our "top" players playing. It would be nice to see some "friendlies" among the top teams so that a real comparison might be made.

(I just finished looking at the entire posting and gets crazier and crazier with wild "updating" of the list and lots of idiotic comments (just like here) so if you want some fun -- check it out.)

To Richard: It is my understanding that the "carding" money is tax free. Would the $20,000 Kerfoot stipend for the residency program also be tax free? If that is the case $38 000 in after tax money might be the equivalent of $60 000 or so and that's not bad for women's football. (Nowhere near the equivalent of top men's salaries but that anint gonna happen till the women can draw 50 000 at $80 a ticket.)

[Richard]

I don't believe the carding money is tax free and I very much doubt the Kerfoot stipend is either. This may be somewhat offset by the assisted living arrangements in Vancouver during the residency and the fact that many of the players are either in university (on scholarship) during the school year and with their parents otherwise. I think playing in Europe doesn't have anywhere near the appeal and the advantages some here are suggesting.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

Unlike the Men's Leagues, I don't think the level of competition they would get in Europe would be much different than the level in North America. It is also very hard to arrange friendlies for the women because there is only a very limited number of national teams who would give them better competition than playing college teams in the region.

An interesting point reference to consider. Did you ever watch " Bend it like Beckham"? Anyways, if you didn't, one of the dreams and aspirations of the main character was to get to "America" to play soccer. No, not Scandinavia, Germany or anywhere else in Europe or the British iles.

Ok, it was movie. But that kind of subplot tells you something about the cultural acceptance of womens soccer overseas. It doesn't take much for a script writer of this kind of movie ( who lives and breaths in that environment) to know where the cultural acceptance, opportunities (ie.: funding) for womens soccer lie. Thats the very least they would know about prior to getting involved in this kind of project/movie.

Yet, we read in this thread, someone saying that women players are better off in Europe....Oh, and "Its all the CSA's fault". And, it was " because of funding and preparation" that they didn't do better.

If I'm not mistaken, many of the players on other teams during the Womens world Cup were described as having other second careers or jobs. Therefore, they had to FUND THEMSELVES!. Many even had Families on top of that. Whereas, in Canada, the womens players are full-time soccer players. Fully Funded! and with a residency program to boot!. And, if I am not mistaken, few had family committment. And yet, we are being told that that is insufficient and they didn't have enough preparation, and that it wasn't because of their play. [)]

Bottom line, you need to learn to play the game first.

[fan]

This team was dead from the second CSA/Pellerud/Kerfoot manipulation, ignorance, greed and ego split the team and ruined an excellent scenario with amazing potential. Leaving behind a poorly coached,incompetent organization and players with no status or character.

Most of those people responsible remain and they will continue this debacle for years to come.

[Jon Que]

quote:Originally posted by Trillium

So why do you not encourage the women to play in the Euro pro leagues the simple truth is the Kerfoot camp was done to keep players at home within reach of Pelerud and the Whitecaps.... as the saying goes out mouths of babys the real answer.. they should have played in Euro leagues all winter in competitive enviorments with there jobs on the line each week... surely it would have bene cheaper to have the girls playing in germany two players per team.. the CSA and Kerfoot is he really is the benefactor you belive him to be..funding the cost of an apartment to share and food from the players paid by the Carded athlete process..since they are all carded..seems pretty simple bet the German top teams would take a free or nearly free player ....dont you Coach Rich..?

Send them over now for trails and put Even back in Norway to gather them together once every two months for a national game in Europe...we dont play home games anyways.. and it will mean Even is able to look for a job more effectivly based on his results... a solution all around...

Thanks, I needed a good laugh. Wacky and irrational with a touch of conspiracy. Keep it coming.

[fan]

Lemmings national anthem just one word really "Conspiracy". For those that just cant handle the truth and wish to fall off the cliff as soon as possible use the word "conspiracy" as your defense to anything you are ignorant of. A completely useless word now. It is overused and void of meaning now other than it exposes fear and lack of courage by the lazy intellect of the people who use it.

Considering the over whelming amount of conspiracies that have come to be exposed as true over time certainly renders the word "Conspiracy" impotent. Only the truly inane like Bush actually use the word for defense in public now. He delivers it to millions of stupefied lemmings almost daily now.

I just cant laugh at that kind of fear and ignorance.