CSA Press Conference November 12

[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.

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by 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.

Um what the hell to you think all our winter athletes do in sking or luge or bobsled or any number of other events... thats what international sports people do they eat pasta and sleep four to room till they make it.. god this is not a stay at home near daddy and mommy thing Terpfan its a get out and be the best ..as you can be make sacrifices what days at home to you think our speed skaters get ?

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by Jon Que

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

Get a grip .. Coach Rich was arguing the Brasilians were better prepared becuase they played in Euro leagues... if that is the analysis its a better enviorment to prepare for the olympics then lets adjust and send the players there... instead of holding them in the lower mainland with its world class womens league and great football tradition .. come on guys BC is not the be all and end all of soccer development get over yourselves and realize a great deal of failure with the CSA comes from the west coast influence....and the back room boys from the BC.

Now if you want to argue team prep for the olympics make some valid points cuase right now the program is going now where fast..and will be ill prepared come Bejing. Very ill prepared.

[Jon Que]

quote:Originally posted by Trillium

come on guys BC is not the be all and end all of soccer development get over yourselves and realize a great deal of failure with the CSA comes from the west coast influence....and the back room boys from the BC.

Are you capable of making a simple statement and backing it up with some proof? Or is it all ranting and raving and no substance. You seem to have some kind of anti west coast bias that is blinding you to what is good for the CWNT and program. I don't understand it. What do I care if the CWNT happens to be based here for the last few years? They can be moved to the east coast for all I care (if that would make them a better team)

Now if you want to argue team prep for the olympics make some valid points cuase right now the program is going now where fast..and will be ill prepared come Bejing. Very ill prepared.

It's pretty simple. Residency with international games as preperation. Do you remember how it used to be? Show up for a week long camp and play the international game or some boys teams and go home. You will be bloody lucky to develop team chemistry that way. And we are not Brazil and never will be. We are Canada and have to find our own path to the top. Now if there was a WUSA league active then that would be a different story, although I'm not sure how many of our players would make those teams. If we had 3 or 4 canadian teams in a WUSA style league then that would probably be a good alternative to residency because then the players would be playing against the best and they wouldn't be far from home and could still come together for camps. Sounds like some players and posters were upset that they had to move away from home for residency, how many would we lose if they were told they had to move to Europe.

[Jon Que]

quote:Originally posted by 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.

And conspiracy nuts anthem is "you are all lemmings, only I can see the truth"

The lazy intellect will accept any idea without analysis and that is the problem with the cult of conspiracy theories. Little or no proof,a twisted kind of logic (if any) and a zealous belief in only their point of view.

[terpfan68]

The U.S. NCAA is the best way to develop large numbers of female soccer players for both the U.S and Canada. Even other countries are sending their best young players to the United States. Florida State who just lost to the University of North Carolina in the conference final by a score of 1 - 0 has a freshman Canadian keeper -- Erin McNulty from Winnipeg and the ACC player of the year Mami Yamaguchi from Japan. I am sure if you check the rosters of Division 1 teams you will find that there are a lot of non-North Americans. These players are getting quality programs and hopefully returning to take spots on their National Teams. I would think that the individual team budgets for top 20 teams might exceed that of many national team budgets. All of this courtesy of Title 9 and Gemder Fairness. Without the NCAA Canada would be lucky to be ranked in the top 30 if they had to use only CSA money for player development.

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by terpfan68

The U.S. NCAA is the best way to develop large numbers of female soccer players for both the U.S and Canada. Even other countries are sending their best young players to the United States. Florida State who just lost to the University of North Carolina in the conference final by a score of 1 - 0 has a freshman Canadian keeper -- Erin McNulty from Winnipeg and the ACC player of the year Mami Yamaguchi from Japan. I am sure if you check the rosters of Division 1 teams you will find that there are a lot of non-North Americans. These players are getting quality programs and hopefully returning to take spots on their National Teams. I would think that the individual team budgets for top 20 teams might exceed that of many national team budgets. All of this courtesy of Title 9 and Gemder Fairness. Without the NCAA Canada would be lucky to be ranked in the top 30 if they had to use only CSA money for player development.

Terpfan.. i agree the NCAA is great for players age 17 to 21, i disagreed when Even Pelerud urged players like K. Kiss to abandon her US scholarship in order to play ... on a low level team in Northern Europe...

But for the Olympic development cycle right now we are not talking about NCAA type players at that cycle of development, top women players are older done with college and we need to hold and develop those mature players in our progams, it means playing for a living ..and putting of family starting, dedicating themselves to sport and then catching up on life after there career is done.

That was and is the sad legacy of the Hooper incident for it had too many overtone of..the program not adjusting to a female having a family and playing at a high level.

No matter your belief in the current coaching group and the current players on the National team pool ... its clear they need shaking up and change before the Olympic process.

There needs to be a heart transplant... and unfortunately i dont see it coming...

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by Jon Que

Are you capable of making a simple statement and backing it up with some proof? Or is it all ranting and raving and no substance. You seem to have some kind of anti west coast bias that is blinding you to what is good for the CWNT and program. I don't understand it. What do I care if the CWNT happens to be based here for the last few years? They can be moved to the east coast for all I care (if that would make them a better team)

So being in the West Coast is good ? You already admit that some players stayed out of the residency program yet your still flogging it .. the World Cup results showed the team lacked Chemistry and the quality of play was poor... the fact is the team was stale, to much time together and too much time to develop cliques in the team.

My point raised by the comments about brasil women...playing in euro leagues was a better method of preparation.. so i simply said lets send some or all, or only those who want to go to Euro clubs to play week to week...and truth be told week to week competitive games is much much better for a player then week after week of static long ball training.

So simply point week to week competitive games are better to keep players in game shape mentally and physically..

Jon Que do you agree or disagree ?

quote:

It's pretty simple. Residency with international games as preperation. Do you remember how it used to be? Show up for a week long camp and play the international game or some boys teams and go home. You will be bloody lucky to develop team chemistry that way. And we are not Brazil and never will be.

So you are conceding the womens game in Canada has been eclisped by Brasil and we will never get back to being competitive with them ?

Was it not Marta who flew from Europe 25 plus hours to Rio then demolished Canada at the Pan Ams ? how does that fit with needing chemistry ...?

By the way we have no money or locals for domestic womens games, So having the players in Europe despite your statements would and could lead to more national team games... or do you think we cant get games with England, France, Italy, Holland etc. ?

quote:We are Canada and have to find our own path to the top. Now if there was a WUSA league active then that would be a different story, although I'm not sure how many of our players would make those teams.

So again you dont think the national player pool has the necessary talent ?

quote:

If we had 3 or 4 canadian teams in a WUSA style league then that would probably be a good alternative to residency because then the players would be playing against the best and they wouldn't be far from home and could still come together for camps.

So Jon Que what the heck league are the Lynx, Fury, and Whitecaps in ? We have the above the choice was made to draw players west and stock one super team... which in my opinion was not the best for the game or the players, it did give Mr. Kerfoot a winner... but at a horrible cost to the game in reality.

quote:

Sounds like some players and posters were upset that they had to move away from home for residency, how many would we lose if they were told they had to move to Europe.

I suspect the Euro alternative would be very attractive to a player..to see top flight mens teams to play in a competitive league in soccer countrys..to be part of Europes embracing the womens game as a spectator event with knowledgeable fans and a variety of coaches and approaches to the game.

[Cheeta]

Maybe drifting a little but the whole residency program sponsored by the 'Caps and their mentor is being raised and I get the opportunity to express some of the views I've partially written about before in criticizing this model.

1st and foremost the residency program favoured BC residents. Plain and simple, the money was insufficient to justify an adult player suspending their career to join the residency program. It's one thing for a university student or someone from Vancouverish, who doesn't have to uproot their lives to join that residency program but there was no way an adult, established such as they were in their career, with their children in school and their husband pursuing their own advancement to pick up their family and join a residency program for 6 months on a wage cut.

My Wee Elf just got a job offer with an increase of $8,000 which would've required our relocating to small town Saskatchewan and we turned it down. No way we were going to relocate for a lousy $8K. And that's assuming I'd find a job which equaled my wages so what would you expect of a family if they were offered a 6-month term? It's not going to happen.

So how do you expect an adult player who's playing their club football for "free" and who've established some sort of life somewhere outside of BC's Lower Mainland to suspend their life?

Did any players from outside the residency program join the WNT for the WWC?

2nd, I think this "purchase" of the WNT by Kerfoot and company hasn't gone unnoticed by others within the CSA. Not saying anything except speculation but I think this Cheeta view isn't isolated and may be playing a part at the administrative level in the CSA.

It's a great program, putting money where it's most needed but it's far, far from perfect, was abused and quite rightly is open to criticism from much of the country.

[Jon Que]

quote:Originally posted by Trillium

So being in the West Coast is good ? You already admit that some players stayed out of the residency program yet your still flogging it .. the World Cup results showed the team lacked Chemistry and the quality of play was poor... the fact is the team was stale, to much time together and too much time to develop cliques in the team.

It doesn't matter what coast they are on. I'm assuming some players stayed out of residency because they didn't want to be away from home. Yes, They have family and budding real careers. They would rather be based at home and fly in for camps, which means they will be playing in the various metro leagues across the country when not at the camps. That is not good enough anymore. Residency is far better than that. Your solution makes it even worse for those players that feel that way. Don't you see that? (If they won't live in Van then they sure as hell won't move to Germany or Sweden and then you will lose even more players from the pool). I admit the team did not have the on field chemistry I expected, but that might just mean it wasn't done properly. It needs to be tweaked. How much experience does EP have running a residency program? Hopefully he has learned from the first one. I HOPE.

My point raised by the comments about brasil women...playing in euro leagues was a better method of preparation.. so i simply said lets send some or all, or only those who want to go to Euro clubs to play week to week...and truth be told week to week competitive games is much much better for a player then week after week of static long ball training.

So simply point week to week competitive games are better to keep players in game shape mentally and physically..

Jon Que do you agree or disagree ?

I agree that if they are truely in an environment where the quality is high then yes having week to week competitive (high quality) games is better. Does all of Europe offer that or just some leagues and some teams? Is most of European soccer that much better than metro or just the same? I don't know.

So you are conceding the womens game in Canada has been eclisped by Brasil and we will never get back to being competitive with them ?

Brazil has pretty well eclipsed every country (don't you think?), not just Canada. Doesn't mean we can't be competitive again someday, but at the rate we are going (lack of developmet teams, lack of international games) then no it will get tougher and tougher to beat them.

Was it not Marta who flew from Europe 25 plus hours to Rio then demolished Canada at the Pan Ams ? how does that fit with needing chemistry ...?

She is Marta! The greatest womens player ever to play. The Wayne Gretzky of womens soccer. You put Gretzky on any team in his prime and you will win a lot of games with little practice, but you might not win the championship game against a team with great chemistry.

Chemistry helps less talented teams win games against superior talent. You can quote me on that. .

By the way we have no money or locals for domestic womens games, So having the players in Europe despite your statements would and could lead to more national team games... or do you think we cant get games with England, France, Italy, Holland etc. ?

So again you dont think the national player pool has the necessary talent ?

Of course they need more talent. The point is if it's an american league then Canadians would be foreigners and would have to fight with all internations for few spots.

So Jon Que what the heck league are the Lynx, Fury, and Whitecaps in ? We have the above the choice was made to draw players west and stock one super team... which in my opinion was not the best for the game or the players, it did give Mr. Kerfoot a winner... but at a horrible cost to the game in reality.

What are you talking about? What super team? It was the same old team from what I saw. I like the W league, I go to as many games as I can, but it's not gonna be on the same level as WUSA (not even close). You must know that.

I suspect the Euro alternative would be very attractive to a player..to see top flight mens teams to play in a competitive league in soccer countrys..to be part of Europes embracing the womens game as a spectator event with knowledgeable fans and a variety of coaches and approaches to the game.

Heck I would, but I can't speak for the players in the Canadian pool. At least when you are young and fresh out of College. Why not?

[terpfan68]

Does anyone have the attendance figures for women's soccer in Europe? Can they top the attendance at Div. 1 NCAA games? Some top 20 games in the NCAA draw one - two thousand fans. The NCAA tournament teams were announced tonight. It is a 64 team single knockout tournament whose draw was on ESPN. I would think that there is more interest in women's soccer in the US than in all of Europe. I don't think Europe has "embraced" the women's game at all.

[Jon Que]

quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

Maybe drifting a little but the whole residency program sponsored by the 'Caps and their mentor is being raised and I get the opportunity to express some of the views I've partially written about before in criticizing this model.

1st and foremost the residency program favoured BC residents. Plain and simple, the money was insufficient to justify an adult player suspending their career to join the residency program. It's one thing for a university student or someone from Vancouverish, who doesn't have to uproot their lives to join that residency program but there was no way an adult, established such as they were in their career, with their children in school and their husband pursuing their own advancement to pick up their family and join a residency program for 6 months on a wage cut.

My Wee Elf just got a job offer with an increase of $8,000 which would've required our relocating to small town Saskatchewan and we turned it down. No way we were going to relocate for a lousy $8K. And that's assuming I'd find a job which equaled my wages so what would you expect of a family if they were offered a 6-month term? It's not going to happen.

So how do you expect an adult player who's playing their club football for "free" and who've established some sort of life somewhere outside of BC's Lower Mainland to suspend their life?

Did any players from outside the residency program join the WNT for the WWC?

2nd, I think this "purchase" of the WNT by Kerfoot and company hasn't gone unnoticed by others within the CSA. Not saying anything except speculation but I think this Cheeta view isn't isolated and may be playing a part at the administrative level in the CSA.

It's a great program, putting money where it's most needed but it's far, far from perfect, was abused and quite rightly is open to criticism from much of the country.

Okay... Nobody said it's perfect. Criticism is a good thing as long as it's constructive, all I hear is a whole lot of whining from people about the bad rich man and the abuse. That's the word you want to use? Like what specifically? How about actually offering an alternative? It's so easy to sit back and criticize yet offer no better way. Anybody can do that?

[Vic]

Thanks Cheeta.

quote:

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.

While I agree moving on is an admirable thing and a neccessary and positive part of life, there is a process to doing it. And simply moving on for the purpose of moving on isn't moving forward.

The USA wasted little time to prove they are a results-driven organization. They assessed the reason for their failure, enforced accountability and moved on and forward.

We cannot create a culture of professionalism and success with a laissez-faire approach to poor performance. Players are released for failing to meet the standard, and that mentality has to be reflected through the whole organization.

[bjarne]

quote:Originally posted by Vic

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by bjarne

[AlanDouglas]

Have been quite busy of late, and don't really have time to get into a big argument, but there seems to be this idea floating around that the residency program allowed the Whitecaps to load up on National Team talent. I think it is worth noting that the only new non-BC national team player to sign for the Whitecaps in 2006 or 2007 was Candace Chapman, who has yet to play so much as a minute in a Vancouver uniform.

Let's also not forget that the Whitecaps voluntarily released about a dozen of their national team players for the entire 2007 season.

So I don't see this residency program as being quite so advantageous to the Whitecaps as is being made out.

[Massive Attack]

Shhhhh, Alan Douglas. Be quiet. People with agendas don't let facts get in their way. You should know that.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by terpfan68

Does anyone have the attendance figures for women's soccer in Europe? Can they top the attendance at Div. 1 NCAA games? Some top 20 games in the NCAA draw one - two thousand fans. The NCAA tournament teams were announced tonight. It is a 64 team single knockout tournament whose draw was on ESPN. I would think that there is more interest in women's soccer in the US than in all of Europe. I don't think Europe has "embraced" the women's game at all.

In Spain Athletic Bilbao draws well, even getting 15 thousand plus for the odd key game late in the league or in the champions league in Europe (when they play).

The rest, and they in normal circumstances, are looking at a few hundred for a match, occasionally going over a thousand here or there.

Women's soccer in Spain is amateur but players are paid by other means (jobs, coaching, per diems and the like, sponsor contracts). Maribel Dominguez helped Estartit promote last year to top flight and she has stayed with them in the inaugural season at the top. She must be getting at least 30 thousand euros under some pretext.