FIFA Declaration about "Protection of Minors"

[VPjr]

Based on its title, many might think that this thread should belong in the World Soccer section.

However, this issue actually does have significant implications on the Canadian soccer landscape, specifically when it comes to the issue of Academies/Soccer Schools in the Canadian Soccer system.

For those interested, please read the Press Release issued today by Soccer Academy Alliance Canada (SAAC) in response to the release of FIFA Circular 1190 which details FIFA's new rulings regarding the protection of minors and the obligations placed on member national associations to meet the requirements of these new rules.

http://www.academysoccer.ca/index.php?page=articles&fid=172

(Full Disclosure, I am a voting member of the SAAC board of directors so obviously I'm very happy about this new FIFA ruling and am cautiously hopeful about what the CSA's response will be)

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

Can anyone summarize that into lamens terms as I am an Product of American television.

[CoachRich]

Good move on FIFA's part. Now up to the Assoc's to let independent academies become sanctioned clubs.

Going to be an interesting tug of war with the academies in the Youth Distrct they reside in due to Youth Districts controlling player movements. But competitioin is good for the players & clubs/districts should operate in a free market system as most youth clubs are making profits now & hire staff.

Btw I'm a suit.

[tmcmurph]

Interesting article. I am curious how it would affect places like Calgary (CMSA) that just adopted a "full year no transfer" policy. Once you sign up for a club for the indoor season you have to stay with that club for the outdoor season. So you sign up in late August / early September to play arena soccer and you are locked in for the year until the completion of outdoor season the following June/July.

I don't like restricted flexibility. Having 2 transfer windows was nice and made sense. One after the outdoor season completes and one after the indoor season completes. What if the team your kid plays for has a bad coach and the club refuses to do anything about it? What if the coach leaves and you get stuck with a fill in who isn't really interested or knowledgeable?

I think that gives way too much leverage to the clubs. Ed if you are reading this what is your take on it? Am I reading it wrong or something?

[L.T.]

This FIFA directive doesn't really address that... and given that 1-year signings are fairly typical for soccer organizations around the world (especially at the elite level) I doubt that this would be very high on FIFA's priority list...

[CoachRich]

How are academies going to get around Youth District boundaries as academies generally draw players from all Youth Districts & not just the Youth District they are in?

[Guest Ed]

quote:Originally posted by tmcmurph

Interesting article. I am curious how it would affect places like Calgary (CMSA) that just adopted a "full year no transfer" policy. Once you sign up for a club for the indoor season you have to stay with that club for the outdoor season. So you sign up in late August / early September to play arena soccer and you are locked in for the year until the completion of outdoor season the following June/July.

I don't like restricted flexibility. Having 2 transfer windows was nice and made sense. One after the outdoor season completes and one after the indoor season completes. What if the team your kid plays for has a bad coach and the club refuses to do anything about it? What if the coach leaves and you get stuck with a fill in who isn't really interested or knowledgeable?

I think that gives way too much leverage to the clubs. Ed if you are reading this what is your take on it? Am I reading it wrong or something?

I had not heard about that change (re one full year per club). I am quite happy with the club I am with and so are my kids so it has not been an issue. I have seen some movement within a bit higher age group for various reasons. I have seen some teams very poorly run on the indoor side so can appreciate your point of view. Reducing the number of transfer windows means less freedom.

[L.T.]

quote:Originally posted by CoachRich

How are academies going to get around Youth District boundaries as academies generally draw players from all Youth Districts & not just the Youth District they are in?

The same way the Toronto Jr. Lynx, Ottawa Fury, Toronto FC Academy do...

[CoachRich]

quote:Originally posted by L.T.

The same way the Toronto Jr. Lynx, Ottawa Fury, Toronto FC Academy do...

I don't think those academies are playing in club leagues that are formed by Youth Districts that are in Provincial Associations are they?

For sure, Academies like above & the Caps are in Super Y, USL, CSL & similar.

[VPjr]

quote:Originally posted by CoachRich

I don't think those academies are playing in club leagues that are formed by Youth Districts that are in Provincial Associations are they?

For sure, Academies like above & the Caps are in Super Y, USL, CSL & similar.

What's to say that academies wish to compete in club leagues formed by the Districts? In the case of SAAC, we have our own competitive league that works quite nicely for week to week competition between the affiliated academy groups for age groups up to U17.

L.T. recently sent me the following summary that I think might answer some questions some people have about what academies (and SAAC in particular) do and what they seek to get from becomming sanctioned.

What We Do…</u>

· Provide players with a full-time training program suited to their development needs.

· Provide an inter-academy competition program per our published rules.

· Sanction properly registered academy teams for international travel.

· Invite outside teams for unofficial training matches with SAAC members.

What We Seek…</u>

· A formal mechanism for academy directors to recommend players for Provincial/National team programs.

· Approval to use CSA-sanctioned referees

· Ability to sanction properly registered academy teams to schedule exhibition games with Competitive Club teams

· Ability to sanction properly registered academy teams to apply to Canadian-based tournaments classified as ‘North American’ or ‘International’

· Ability to obtain travel permission for international tournaments.

· Ability to sanction international tournaments hosted in Canada.

. have our members be recognized as the ‘training club’ for the players they develop

What We Offer…</u>

· Registration of players including remittance of player levies.

· Full support of the CSA Long-Term Player Development Plan.

· Input into the long term vision and direction of SAAC.

[CoachRich]

^

The SAAC league in that area is unique in Canada & works due to the size of the player footprint. Doesn't work in BC or other areas does it? Canada has a limited number of academies due to demographics so it's important to find a solution that works for all.

The SAAC with this change to be successful needs to lobby for all of the academies across the country for a solution. In BC this change will only mean academy teams can play in BCSA tournaments if the tournaments allow them. Also this change will make traveling easier for academy travel teams.

Like the USA model academies do play a very important role but how it's works successfully is how the overall structure becomes interdependent for the players & for giving them a wider choice.

I would love to see soccer clubs & academies function in a free market system of where the best businesses succeed. Until there is some way of getting people to understand soccer non-profits are the same a profits there will be issues with protectionism at the kids & sports expense.

[L.T.]

We started with 4-team divisions at 6 age groups... It can be done...

Supplement with 1-2 tournaments and a bunch of friendlies and Academies can run their own programs without having to worry about promotion/relegation, residency rules, etc and the associated politics of the rep club system. You don't need to win trophies at U12 to create top class players...

[CoachRich]

You are saying 4 teams at 6 age levels but can that be done elsewhere with the demographics being so small???

I agree you don't need trophies. But you do need a decent demographic base to pull from & to develop that base. In the end, what you development has to be benchmarked at tournaments & elsewhere. Problem is most tournaments in Metro Van have tournaments that are open for youth league teams where you have to produce a roster & BCSA Player ID cards. That doesn't help academies does it?

I appreciate your passion & what you have done. It's great to chat about this as the Youth District system sucks due to power & money (protectionism). Don't get me wrong as I want to see change but I'm struggling to see how academies outside of the major SAAC area are going to benefit by FIFA 1190. Especially, if there is only 1 academy as they need to get game experience but the opportunities are limited.

[CoachRich]

You are saying 4 teams at 6 age levels but can that be done elsewhere with the demographics being so small???

I agree you don't need trophies. But you do need a decent demographic base to pull from & to develop that base. In the end, what you development has to be benchmarked at tournaments & elsewhere. Problem is most tournaments in Metro Van have tournaments that are open for youth league teams where you have to produce a roster & BCSA Player ID cards. That doesn't help academies does it?

I appreciate your passion & what you have done. It's great to chat about this as the Youth District system sucks due to power & money (protectionism). Don't get me wrong as I want to see change but I'm struggling to see how academies outside of the major SAAC area are going to benefit by FIFA 1190. Especially, if there is only 1 academy as they need to get game experience but the opportunities are limited.

[Tuscan]

I believe it can be done in smaller places. In Saskatchewan (mind you it's not based solely in Saskatoon or Regina, but all major centers incorporated into one), the Premier Soccer League exists for age groups starting at U-12 I believe, and even goes into the adult league as well. While it isn't a perfect set up, each age group usually has at minimum 4 teams, with Saskatoon and Regina usually entering 2 or 3 teams each. The PSL isn't at the same level as an academy system, mind you.

[CoachRich]

How is the SPSL any benefit to Academies as it's controlled by the SSA & the Districts? Hence District boundaries come into play & there is some control over signing & excess players.

[DJones]

CoachRich,

I believe we in BC are different to other provincial bodies when it comes to districts and player movements making this situation (I believe) potentially detremental to established single entity Academies who are pulling players from outside of boundaries.

For those that don't know, BC Soccer limit player movement to three out of district (OOD) players per team up to U16 and 5 at U18. Some districts in BC are ridiculously small while others are much larger and have larger populations. Even though a player may not have a select team in his district (not enough talent to field a team, poor organization, etc...) he would have to tryout in another district and make 1 of 3 designated spots for OOD's. Some players obviously get missed.

Hopefully, this will be a step towards the elimination of boundaries on where players can play in BC. Why not allow the well run, well coached organizations or academies flourish, expand, attract the better players and have the other organizations change to keep up.

This is where rules should be the same throughout the country. How can you run a national championship with some provinces handicapped? Worse yet, by their own Association?

As you can see by looking at Club National Championships since the tight restritions of OOD came into play in BC, the number of national championships has drastically decreased.

[Guest Ed]

And Alberta refuses to allow clubs to run any teams in the Super Y league. No wonder player development is the sh1ts these days.

[Richard]

BC is still mired in the recreational play mindset where every player must be treated the same, get equal playing opportunity and elitism is anathema.

[CoachRich]

quote:Originally posted by DJones

CoachRich,

I believe we in BC are different to other provincial bodies when it comes to districts and player movements making this situation (I believe) potentially detremental to established single entity Academies who are pulling players from outside of boundaries.

For those that don't know, BC Soccer limit player movement to three out of district (OOD) players per team up to U16 and 5 at U18. Some districts in BC are ridiculously small while others are much larger and have larger populations. Even though a player may not have a select team in his district (not enough talent to field a team, poor organization, etc...) he would have to tryout in another district and make 1 of 3 designated spots for OOD's. Some players obviously get missed.

Hopefully, this will be a step towards the elimination of boundaries on where players can play in BC. Why not allow the well run, well coached organizations or academies flourish, expand, attract the better players and have the other organizations change to keep up.

This is where rules should be the same throughout the country. How can you run a national championship with some provinces handicapped? Worse yet, by their own Association?

As you can see by looking at Club National Championships since the tight restritions of OOD came into play in BC, the number of national championships has drastically decreased.

Hi DJ,

Maybe some of the other here can let us know about their structures as I believe Youth Districts & OOD's are standard across the country where the PSO are involved. They may regulated a little different but the reasons are the same & at the expense of the sport & player development.....something we both agree on.

Rule 23 in BC was going to be challenged this past AGM but it was dropped. Instead they went for upping U16-18 OOD as permanent after a temp upgrade last season due to a girl's Metro team in Vancouver. This was done due to the Vancouver/Richmond girl's district aligning with the boys districts. Sadly that was at the expense of Rmd Metro program that had 5 teams & now they are struggling to get 2 competitive team. It was an example of what you said.

Hopefully FIFA 1190 will make put some pressure on Youth Districts to dissappear & those districts will focus on being large & successful clubs. Too many Youth Districts like Vancouver have too many small clubs with problems like Richard & you have id'ed. Vancouver is a good example has 11 clubs with 10,000 kids yet the population is 600,000. Compare that to say Oakville (population the size of Rmd yet they have 10,000 members)& some of the other clubs across the country & there are issues at play that have nothing to do with development. The future of club models in Vancouver is model like Coquitlam Metro Ford SC that is a full cradle to grave, both genders & year round club.

I'd love to see a free market system of clubs with no Youth Districts but with the Youth Districts holding the vote on constitutional matters, I can only hope.

[VPjr]

Soccer Academy Alliance Canada has issued a follow up Media Release to the information that was distributed to the media and soccer community early last month.

The media release can be found here, for those that are interested:

http://www.academysoccer.ca/index.php?page=articles&fid=194