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Include CSL in Canadian Championship


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quote:Originally posted by Artoo

Would that not be great, to have the current champion of the CSL play in the Canadian Championship? Maybe we should start a petition or a facebook site :-).

I would like to see more inclusive games as well because you always have the possibility of a great story like Havant & Waterlooville in the FA Cup. Ther are several big problems.

1) You have full time professional teams vs semi-pro teams.

2) You have no true national league. As much as the CSL wants to claim that title it is as national as Ontario is. You could have a playoff amongst all the regional leagues and winner get to enter with the big boys (my perferred choice).

3) Keep a team together for 2 years in a row to compete in CCL if you win. That is tough enough for the full time pro teams much less the lower leagues.

4) Last but most importantly the clubs seem to have decided amongst themselves that USL-1 is the entry point. If you are not playing at that level they don't want to bother. They have valid reasons.

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I'd like to have more teams in the cup, but adding 1 is not the way to do it. Especially adding Serbian White Eagles because they don't even represent a city, they represent another country.

Maybe all the senior teams in the CSL that are in the National could join the competition (Brampton, St.Catherines, North York, Windsor and London) That's 8 teams, so 3 knockout rounds. The only thing is 6 of the 8 teams are in Ontario. I'd like a team from every province in the competition so its a real national cup from every where in the country.

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Speaking of facebook groups... there is no Voyaguers Cup group. There is a group called "The Voyageurs- Canadian Soccer Supporters" or someting like that with 300 members, but no group of the Voyageurs Cup. Someone should create the group, it could be the Voyageurs Cup official website as well since there isn't one ;).

On topic with CSL joining in on second thought, I'm not so sure anymore if CSL teams should enter. The best thing for the cup is to get more teams as long as they are Semi Pro and not amateur like the PDL. But the reason why I'm not so sure that they should enter is because who really supports CSL teams. I've never met a guy who told me he was a strong supporter of London City or of the Brampton Lions. Really huge soccer fans located in CSL cities probably support their team somewhat, but cheer for Toronto FC because they are in MLS. Until you can get true CSL fans, who hate Toronto FC and love their team its not going to feel like a Havant & Waterlooville story.

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I love the amount of discussion my post generated :-).

I think that once Winnipeg gets into the CSL (which I hope it does), it would be neat for it to be able to get in on the Canadian Championship. In regards to Fury's comment - I support ethnic clubs :-). Initially, clubs like Winnipeg Scottish or Toronto Ulster were big in Canada - and I think they were both ethnic. In some way, Toronto FC is ethnic as well. Its very British in my opinion. The history and success of the Croatian, Serbian, and Italian teams is a neat chapter in Canadian soccer. Personally, I love seeing the lone championship for the Polish White Eagles in the 50s in the NSL :-).

Oh, yeah... And just to clarify. I would like to see only one team from the CSL - the previous years champion - to play in the Canadian Championship.

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quote:Originally posted by nazzer

If a team gets in from an Eastern Canadian regional league (CSL), then there should also be representatioon from a Western Canadian Regional league (PCSL).

Sure! I know I am repeating previous threads... But a champion's league style two game qualification series could settle the "4th best team" spot (I am cross referencing to an "other men's leagues" thread :-) ).

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quote:Originally posted by Artoo

Sure! I know I am repeating previous threads... But a champion's league style two game qualification series could settle the "4th best team" spot (I am cross referencing to an "other men's leagues" thread :-) ).

And what about the PDL ? Nobody has contributed more than the Toronto Lynx. And the Thunder Bay Chill are the North American champions of the PDL.

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quote:Originally posted by michaeltfc91

Speaking of facebook groups... there is no Voyaguers Cup group. There is a group called "The Voyageurs- Canadian Soccer Supporters" or someting like that with 300 members, but no group of the Voyageurs Cup. Someone should create the group, it could be the Voyageurs Cup official website as well since there isn't one ;).

Great idea, go for it. Post a link on the supporter pages.

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quote:

And what about the PDL ? Nobody has contributed more than the Toronto Lynx. And the Thunder Bay Chill are the North American champions of the PDL.

I would not make things too complicated :-). If you look at the USL pyramid, the PDL is not only below the First Division, but also below the Second Division. Full respect to the Lynx and the Chill, though :-).

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It's not really fair that the US based PDL teams have a shot at the CCL via the US Open Cup but the Canadian teams don't. Some of the top amateur clubs would also give the USL-2 teams a good run. The system in Canada is broke, there needs to be better direction from the CSA. There would be a better vision of the game (to the general public) if the CSL and PCSL (and maybe others) joined USL-2. Then the pyramid is clearer, TFC (MLS), Impact and Whitecaps (USL-1), all those USL-2 teams and the PDL. I would encourage the top clubs in Canada to get into the USL, until then the Canadian Championship will stay the same.

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quote:Originally posted by coppercanuck

It's not really fair that the US based PDL teams have a shot at the CCL via the US Open Cup but the Canadian teams don't. Some of the top amateur clubs would also give the USL-2 teams a good run. The system in Canada is broke, there needs to be better direction from the CSA. There would be a better vision of the game (to the general public) if the CSL and PCSL (and maybe others) joined USL-2. Then the pyramid is clearer, TFC (MLS), Impact and Whitecaps (USL-1), all those USL-2 teams and the PDL. I would encourage the top clubs in Canada to get into the USL, until then the Canadian Championship will stay the same.

I think that in some way the thread was continued here:

http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=1&TOPIC_ID=18330

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The question is, can any of these clubs afford to compete? It isn't like there is much money to be made my playing in the Voyageurs cup. I doubt they get any money from TV and the sponsorship most likely only covers the CSA fat. And what if they do qualify? US based MLS clubs have complained that they loose money by being in the Champions League, so can a CSL/PDL/PCSL club afford it? If they can then I say why not, if they expect to be supplemented my the 'rich' clubs or the CSA forget it.

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^ That is a very important point for amateur clubs and even third tier semi-pro clubs. For a BC based team to participate in the BMO National Championships in eastern Canada for example, can cost the club in excess of $30,000. There would have to be some heavy sponsorship or subsidy for it to be worthwhile.

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quote:Originally posted by Richard

^ That is a very important point for amateur clubs and even third tier semi-pro clubs. For a BC based team to participate in the BMO National Championships in eastern Canada for example, can cost the club in excess of $30,000. There would have to be some heavy sponsorship or subsidy for it to be worthwhile.

I agree that sponsorships would need to be secured to make it viable. I think the lure of being involved in a national club championship would make it easier to secure that sponsorship. I know that my company would consider it.

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  • 1 month later...

Seriously though, just like in tournaments abroad, all the little guys should weed themselves out. I would be for seeing Vancouver (not including residency), Toronto and MOntreal (maybe even Victoria and Abbotsford and any other MLS, USL1, PDL franchise) enter such a tournament in the quarterfinals (top 8), maybe top 16 for PDL clubs. So the plummers would have to get pretty far to play the pros and semi-pros.

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