loyola Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Men’s U-17 Team Saturday 07 November 2008 Canada announces U17 camp in Mexico Canada’s men’s U-17 team announced that it will head to Mexico this month for a series of preparatory matches in the lead-up to next year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009. The team will be coached by Sean Fleming, who is assembling this group for the first time. Canada will play five exhibition matches against local club teams from 21 November to 3 December. Canada’s opponents will include Chivas, Atlas and Tecos. “This is the first opportunity for this group to be together,” said coach Sean Fleming. “I hope to see the players rise to the occasion and show that they can compete against very good competition in the CONCACAF climate. With qualification coming quickly, this project will be an important step to starting to form the team for the CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship.” The 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship will take place next spring in Mexico, with the schedule yet to be officially announced. This will mark the first time since 1996 that CONCACAF schedules a men’s U-17 championship, whereby in recent years the final group of teams have been split into two separate locations. Canada’s last participation in the FIFA U-17 World Cup was Ecuador 1995. Canada previously participated at Japan 1993, Scotland 1989 and Canada 1987. Over the past decade, Canada’s U-17 program has produced current national-team players such as Marcel de Jong, André Hainault, Iain Hume, Jaime Peters and Tyler Rosenlund. Canada’s U-17 team, whose title sponsor is BMO Financial Group, will feature players born 1992 or later for its road to Nigeria 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 So, Sean Flemming would be our new U-17 coach. Anyone has infos on his background? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillium Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Canadian soccer skills need polish Cory Wolfe, The StarPhoenix Published: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 Coming from nowhere had a lot to do with Jerome Baker getting somewhere. "I grew up in a rough neighborhood and soccer was my way out," says the striker, a member of Canada's under-16 soccer team. "It kept me from getting into trouble with gangs." Baker was raised in the Toronto slum known as Jane and Finch. His march out of the ghetto began with a found soccer ball. He practised for hours at a time until he could make the ball dance. View Larger Image Ethan Gage (red) of the Canadian under-16 team stays a step ahead of Jereson Hamilton of the Saskatoon Huskie United Football Club in an exhibition game SP Photo by Richard Marjan That willingness to do homework is key to moving Canadian soccer forward, says Sean Fleming, coach of the national under-16 team. "We have to get much better technically. We give away the ball far too easily." Fleming's evaluation is frank, but unapologetic. The Canadian Soccer Association is in the midst of serious introspection, spurred by the fact that Canada went winless -- and goal-less -- during last month's FIFA Under-20 World Cup. "In one week I'm not going to change their technical abilities," says Fleming, who brought the under-16 side to Saskatoon for a training camp. "They need to work on that on a consistent basis in their own environments. Unfortunately, we don't get them that often. If they don't take it upon themselves to work on their techniques, it will be a long haul." Fleming doesn't expect bicycle kicks and the ball-bending abilities of David Beckham. Beefing up on the basics will do. Canadians lag behind their international counterparts when it comes to skills such as passing, receiving and shooting. "You have to be able to perform those techniques at pace, under pressure and on demand," says Fleming. Even if Canadian soccer officials have the vision, they still face challenges in implementing their plan. Two major obstacles are funding and climate. Most of the world's soccer powers don't have to contend with five months of winter each year. "The European countries and the South American countries play all year-round," says Baker, who wears No. 10 in honour of the great Pel . "We have half-year soccer and we have to go indoors. It cuts everything off. "In Europe, they touch the ball twice a day. Here, we touch it four times a week." The national women's team -- by far the most successful Canadian side -- is centralized in Vancouver. However, the women's residency program is largely funded by millionaire George Kerfoot, owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps. No private investors are lining up to fund similar programs for Canadian men's teams. "The CONCACAF countries that we have to qualify against -- places like Guatemala, Haiti, El Salvador and the U.S. -- all have residency programs," says Fleming. "It's a daily environment with 30 or 40 athletes who are all pushing each other. "The big question is the funding of it, but if we're going to compete with other CONCACAF countries, it's huge for us to get that type of environment for our players." THROW-INS: Saskatoon Huskie United, a team comprised mostly of university players, swept a pair of weekend friendlies with the under-16 club. Josh Northey and Duncan McDougall scored in a 2-1 victory Saturday at SaskTel Sports Centre. Sahil Sandhu of Surrey, B.C., replied for Canada. Huskie United posted a 4-1 win Sunday on the strength of two goals by Jereson Hamilton and singles by Northey and McDougall. Winnipeg's Amos Ganyea scored for Canada. Saskatchewan is not represented on the under-16 national team. cwolfe@sp.canwest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillium Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 He has a few hats as CSA staff member, staff coach, out of Edmonton National Training Centre, and Community development coach. I am not sure of his club coaching experience, perhaps some of the Alberta folks have better handle if he came up from the club side, or is CSA developed coach, I suspect its the latter. Which means he ahs not coached week to week in a competitive league for youth under eighteen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthAfricaOrBust Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 He makes it sound like a hut city in Rio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbrad Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 The coaching staff have made an excellent decision by training against the Mexican club teams. Wow, that felt weird to say that..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 quote:Originally posted by loyola So, Sean Flemming would be our new U-17 coach. Anyone has infos on his background? Hereditary appointment, like the House of Lords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soccrman Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Ed Hereditary appointment, like the House of Lords. haha, funny but true - absolutely NO club experience in AB, so we have no idea if he is any good or not. Always worked in NTC after winning summer games 8/9(??) years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishman Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 His father is a former CSA President (Jim Fleming). He is a decent coach, but no, he doesn't not have any club coaching experience. His communication skills leave something to be desired, but he runs a decent training session. I always laugh at one of the titles he holds...Community Development Coach! What a crock of crap. He never attends club matches, rarely if ever works with any communities and their coaches (unless paid separately and outside of his role with the CSA), doesn't provide any written resources (except a dreadful PowerPoint a few years back)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Ed Hereditary appointment, like the House of Lords. Safe to say he smells of political favors. I find it a little troubling he sees going indoors as a problem. If anything exploring the small game should help people build up the technical aspects of their game. Of course when you don't tell your players from a young age if they want a career in soccer you have to train year around, it might do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Mouth Soup Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 I can maybe understand the weather thing, but why do we continue to waste CSA money in other countries for training camps? Are Victoria & Vancouver really that bad at this time of year? Is the dome not up at BMO yet (I'm out of country right now)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Loud Mouth Soup I can maybe understand the weather thing, but why do we continue to waste CSA money in other countries for training camps? Are Victoria & Vancouver really that bad at this time of year? Is the dome not up at BMO yet (I'm out of country right now)? The CONCACAF U-17 champiuonship will be held in Mexico. There's a good reason to held the camp in Mexico to give the players a feeling of the weather and general environment. Also, playing central americans oppositions (5 games are scheduled if I'm not mistaken) won't happen in Victoria. This group also trained in Canada last year (once in Saskatoon and once in Newfoundland). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Mouth Soup Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Originally posted by loyola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caccamo1 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 quote:No private investors are lining up to fund similar programs for Canadian men's teams. Pardon me?? Anybody ever heard of the Whitecaps Residency Program who is on their second year? Not only is Cory Wolfe, the author, misinformed... but so is our U17 National Team Head Coach. He doesn't mention it at all. Even when it is made up of mostly Canadians and has a couple players in his player pool. Albeit they may be implying of a National Team Residency Program, but the WC Progrom had the majority of its' players from the U17 team that attempted to qualify in 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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