CSA AGM Passes Constitution Committee Recommendations

[Tuscan]

I've just received word that the CSA passed the changes to the governance structure of the Board that have been suggested by the Constitution Committee. This is a MAJOR step in the right direction for the national organization. What it means is that:

1. The structure of the Board of the CSA will be drastically changed from the current format involving the provincial presidents to a structure of elected and appointed Board members(about 50/50, appointed members possessing key leadership knowledge and skills found within the business community, with the possibility of having ex-national team players to help focus the Board on what it takes to get the best out of our players)

2. The Board's governance structure will change from an Operational Board to a Governance Board, wherein the duties of staff will become separated from the duties of the Board in that the Board will become focused on goal setting and policy setting and the staff will be responsible for meeting the goals and adhering to the policies (a very watered-down explanation)

3. Peter Montopoli will finally be given power over operational areas and decision making that he needs in order to be a fully effective and fully accountable Executive Director. I know that some don't have the highest opinion on Peter, but he's only had enough resources to do what he could for the last little bit, now we get to see if he really does have the stuff to do the job he's been assigned

There are other major changes that this brings, I'm just not fully versed enough in everything to post them out of fear of providing misinformation.

There's also talk of having a committee made up of ex-national team players (I can only assume Jason deVos, Craig Forrest, Dale Mitchell, Paul James, Pesch perhaps?, etc...) who will work with the new Board to try and add a voice of the players, to help focus the Board on building the organization in order to best serve the players along with the demands of the associations across the country. What a daunting task, to deal with all the country's in-fighting and regionalism. Oddly enough Quebec seems to be doing everything they can to oppose anything and everything the CSA tries to do lately. No offense to Vs from Quebec, but is your province just hell-bent on ****ing with everything the rest of the country tries to do? Alberta is also a concern.

[Trillium]

Untill clubs in membership elect the CSA board its all stil the insider game a board 50% self appointed does not create transparncy or openness, as long as the CSA is going to fund the programs on the tax to players in the association.... reform can only be by fully democratizing the association.

The Paul James and others of the world may well be of vallue as a ctte..but it needs to be one where all ex national team players male and female get to elect a consultative ctte.

As to Quebec remember they have unique position on culture and sport, and they do have a legit ***** that in the past programs they had and successfull players they developed were not recognized by the CSA old boys club... i.e. Paul James ... et al.

A good move by the CSA would be to ensure the next Francaphone games team developed out of Quebec and not directed by staff based in Vancouver.

First step is deomcratization... that has not yet happened.

Strip the provinces of power and move it down to the clubs all clubs and let them define the new reality.

[Keano]

I've just received word that the CSA passed the changes to the governance structure of the Board that have been suggested by the Constitution Committee. This is a MAJOR step in the right direction for the national organization. What it means is that:

1. The structure of the Board of the CSA will be drastically changed from the current format involving the provincial presidents to a structure of elected and appointed Board members(about 50/50, appointed members possessing key leadership knowledge and skills found within the business community, with the possibility of having ex-national team players to help focus the Board on what it takes to get the best out of our players)

2. The Board's governance structure will change from an Operational Board to a Governance Board, wherein the duties of staff will become separated from the duties of the Board in that the Board will become focused on goal setting and policy setting and the staff will be responsible for meeting the goals and adhering to the policies (a very watered-down explanation)

3. Peter Montopoli will finally be given power over operational areas and decision making that he needs in order to be a fully effective and fully accountable Executive Director. I know that some don't have the highest opinion on Peter, but he's only had enough resources to do what he could for the last little bit, now we get to see if he really does have the stuff to do the job he's been assigned

There are other major changes that this brings, I'm just not fully versed enough in everything to post them out of fear of providing misinformation.

There's also talk of having a committee made up of ex-national team players (I can only assume Jason deVos, Craig Forrest, Dale Mitchell, Paul James, Pesch perhaps?, etc...) who will work with the new Board to try and add a voice of the players, to help focus the Board on building the organization in order to best serve the players along with the demands of the associations across the country. What a daunting task, to deal with all the country's in-fighting and regionalism. Oddly enough Quebec seems to be doing everything they can to oppose anything and everything the CSA tries to do lately. No offense to Vs from Quebec, but is your province just hell-bent on ****ing with everything the rest of the country tries to do? Alberta is also a concern.

Is this about soccer?

[kj52]

Tuscan, you are correct about Alberta being a concern. Unfortunately, last week Maestracci sided with the deposed Alberta Board who illegally suspended the President (a strong advocate of the governance model as you may know) and ignored the new ASA Board. He then spat in the face of the ASA membership and recognized a virulently anti-governance set of representatives from the deposed Board to represent Alberta, albeit with observation status only as there was no President included. The full Board was not consulted about Maestracci's decision, only the executive. The leader of the deposed group, former 1st VP Mario Charpentier is a nearly violent opposer of governance models. He is president of Albert's largest recreational soccer organization, the Edmonton Minor Soccer Association and firmly believes that volunteer boards can and should interfere with staff and micromanage every detail of staff responsibilities. His methods are obvious, small things like sanctioning out-of-province travel, academy applications, provincial berths, etc. can be used as bribes and rewards or punishments as the Executive Finance Committee sees fit. The majority of the Member Districts in Alberta are united against him but he will exhaust every means possible to stay. As his long term goal is for a position on the CSA Board, this latest development at the CSA meeting is his worst nightmare. I certainly hope your information is indeed correct.

[Bill Spiers]

Good news, indeed!

I wasn’t expecting it to pass – at least, not at this meeting – because many of the delegates would have only seen the detailed proposals on the Friday evening. However, an important first step now out of the way.

Report from CSA doesn’t give much in the way of details.

However, my understanding of the proposals being considered can be seen here on Ontario Soccer Web

[kj52]

Thank you for the links Bill, you can't imagine how happy we in Alberta are to hear about this important first step in changing the structure of soccer in Canada. Our battle is still on though, the opposition will fight to the end to stop a governance model at ASA.

[Free kick]

Good news, indeed!

I wasn’t expecting it to pass – at least, not at this meeting – because many of the delegates would have only seen the detailed proposals on the Friday evening. However, an important first step now out of the way.

Report from CSA doesn’t give much in the way of details.

However, my understanding of the proposals being considered can be seen here on Ontario Soccer Web

I take it that this means less provincial based representation (one province, one vote) and more widespread involvement such as former players who've excelled in the sport. That can only be a good thing because it appears that the organization is shedding its image of being solely a political body . The key word there, is "widespread involvement" therefore more players is a good thing, but TOO MANY players is just as bad as too much provincial representation. Players bring a perspective that is missing, namely what happens on the pitch. But an organization like the CSA ( like or not) is also an administrative body and there aren't many players who will have demonstrated experiences and competencies in the areas of organizational administration.

You need perspectives and viewpoints from the likes of: Clubs ( i mean PROFESSIONAL clubs), provinces (who will speak for the amateur clubs), former players, the business community and coaches. If I were to chose where the greater weighting should be, I would favour the professional clubs because to run a professional club you need competencies in areas business, coaching, player development . And since the professional clubs are going to supply that talent that appears on the pitch they will have the final say on success or failure.

[Tuscan]

Untill clubs in membership elect the CSA board its all stil the insider game a board 50% self appointed does not create transparncy or openness, as long as the CSA is going to fund the programs on the tax to players in the association.... reform can only be by fully democratizing the association.

The Paul James and others of the world may well be of vallue as a ctte..but it needs to be one where all ex national team players male and female get to elect a consultative ctte.

As to Quebec remember they have unique position on culture and sport, and they do have a legit ***** that in the past programs they had and successfull players they developed were not recognized by the CSA old boys club... i.e. Paul James ... et al.

A good move by the CSA would be to ensure the next Francaphone games team developed out of Quebec and not directed by staff based in Vancouver.

First step is deomcratization... that has not yet happened.

Strip the provinces of power and move it down to the clubs all clubs and let them define the new reality.

Dude the 50% won't be self-appointed. They will be selected based on the knowledge and skills they will bring to the Board, out of tactical reasoning, not buddy-buddy crap anymore. This Board will actually have checks and balances and transparency.

[Tuscan]

Tuscan, you are correct about Alberta being a concern. Unfortunately, last week Maestracci sided with the deposed Alberta Board who illegally suspended the President (a strong advocate of the governance model as you may know) and ignored the new ASA Board. He then spat in the face of the ASA membership and recognized a virulently anti-governance set of representatives from the deposed Board to represent Alberta, albeit with observation status only as there was no President included. The full Board was not consulted about Maestracci's decision, only the executive. The leader of the deposed group, former 1st VP Mario Charpentier is a nearly violent opposer of governance models. He is president of Albert's largest recreational soccer organization, the Edmonton Minor Soccer Association and firmly believes that volunteer boards can and should interfere with staff and micromanage every detail of staff responsibilities. His methods are obvious, small things like sanctioning out-of-province travel, academy applications, provincial berths, etc. can be used as bribes and rewards or punishments as the Executive Finance Committee sees fit. The majority of the Member Districts in Alberta are united against him but he will exhaust every means possible to stay. As his long term goal is for a position on the CSA Board, this latest development at the CSA meeting is his worst nightmare. I certainly hope your information is indeed correct.

Jason deVos will be reporting on this rather quickly. I'm not nearly as educated regarding governance model Boards as I should be, but I do know that what I posted above is fairly accurate.

I certainly hope people can take off the cynicism hats just for once and try to embrace this change, as minor or major as you might perceive it, as it has now opened the door to a functional system for the country.

[Tuscan]

You need perspectives and viewpoints from the likes of: Clubs ( i mean PROFESSIONAL clubs), provinces (who will speak for the amateur clubs), former players, the business community and coaches. If I were to chose where the greater weighting should be, I would favour the professional clubs because to run a professional club you need competencies in areas business, coaching, player development . And since the professional clubs are going to supply that talent that appears on the pitch they will have the final say on success or failure.

First off my apologies on the multi-posting, but each of these replies needs to be separate. Anyway, I agree with you in the hopes that the CSA will turn its attention towards the privately-run clubs and academies, as they hold the key to teaching the rest of the country how to set up a proper soccer institution that is run like a business.

I think the former player involvement on the Board will have clearly defined limits, in that definitely not the full 50% appointed will be former players, that'd just be ludicrous. Please remember what I wrote regarding the fact the main aim of the 50% appointed will be aimed towards people involved in Canadian business who can bring skills and knowledge assets to the Board in a tactical way (i.e. PR and marketing needs, financial accountability, how to actually run an organization of the CSA's magnitude, etc...).

[kj52]

I have found out that the Alberta delegation was allowed to vote and they voted against the proposal. The executive did it so these guys could come in and vote against and to get Francis re-elected from Quebec. It didn't work out either way. Maestracci, Victor Montagliani and Mike Traficante tried to rig it but they failed. What a concept - Provincial Presidents voting to reduce their powers, what's the matter with these guys (and gals)? -imagine, putting the betterment of the sport ahead of their own positions! Well done folks, finally a move in the right direction.

[tmcmurph]

Please let this be the start of something wonderful. Please please please. There is so much potential for this to be THE turning point. Too funny to hear about the ASA "voters" and the old boys getting shown the door. They won't go out it willingly but rest assured they will go out! This just made my day!

[kj52]

Agreed tmcmurph, the Alberta (I won't call them ASA) delegates were Mario Charpentier, Fred Kern, Colin Innes and Jeff Duberger. I hope they are leaving Winnipeg with their heads bowed in shame. I doubt it though, it'll take a lot more to get rid of these guys but it will get done.

[Regs]

How did Victor come into this equation? He's not a provincial president nor from Alberta?

I have found out that the Alberta delegation was allowed to vote and they voted against the proposal. The executive did it so these guys could come in and vote against and to get Francis re-elected from Quebec. It didn't work out either way. Maestracci, Victor Montagliani and Mike Traficante tried to rig it but they failed. What a concept - Provincial Presidents voting to reduce their powers, what's the matter with these guys (and gals)? -imagine, putting the betterment of the sport ahead of their own positions! Well done folks, finally a move in the right direction.

[kj52]

How did Victor come into this equation? He's not a provincial president nor from Alberta?

Victor is of course one of the two CSA VPs. President Maestracci, VP Victor Montagliani and Director-at-large Traficante supported the (ousted by the ASA members) Alberta delegation being allowed to represent Alberta at the meeting, knowing they would vote against the Constitutional Committee recommendations. In essence they upheld the ousted ASA Board's illegal suspension of ASA President Chris Billings who is an ardent supporter of CSA reform. Billings was one year into his two year term and was spearheading a move to create a governance model for ASA, which made him a dangerous man to the Alberta Board - and so it goes.....................

[The Ref]

I hope the CSA includes a couple of women players in the players committee.

[Bill Spiers]

Read Jason de Vos's comments here

[Macksam]

Great, anything is better than what we currently have, or had I should say.

[Tuscan]

Read Jason de Vos's comments here

Oh good, I wasn't sure how long it would be before Jason got his piece up on CBC. He should be putting up at least one full interview in the next little while, assuming it isn't incorporated into one of the SoccerPlus+ segments, etc.

We should send the members of the Constitution Committee Voyageurs Xmas cards for sure this year. They want to know that we have been paying attention and are aware of what they've accomplished. They are extremely keen on creating a lasting good relationship with us and between us and the CSA, so this ties in to the priority importance to choosing a proper liaison to replace Winnipeg Fury. I don't think any of us aside from WF and a few others really know how important the work WF's been doing is.

tmcmurph, I'm optimistic enough to say that this will be THE turning point for the CSA. Let's hope the staff end of the CSA can live up to its responsibilities fully to carry out the Board's wishes.

[Guest Ed]

kj52, I'm up the #2 most weekends during the summer (place at Buffalo Lake) and promise to buy you a pint someday for your excellent scrutiny of the ASA situation. I appreciate it!

[rdroze]

Read Jason de Vos's comments here

What an excellent post.

Can I nominate Mr. de Vos as an appointed Director?

[Lord Bob]

I think we might miss him as a commentator shining lights into dark places, though.

[kj52]

kj52, I'm up the #2 most weekends during the summer (place at Buffalo Lake) and promise to buy you a pint someday for your excellent scrutiny of the ASA situation. I appreciate it!

Excellent Ed. I'll email you my phone number.

[Tuscan]

@Bill Spiers, where are you going to be for the Canada Day TFC match? I'd love to meet up with you again and chat some footy, also introduce my brother who is also a Voyageur and provincial-level ref (no he isn't blind... except on the pitch!)

@Ed, support Chris Billings with all your might. He is currently the ASA's only hope. If he goes down and others like Charpentier or Innes return to power, Alberta will go back to the stone age.

@kj52, do you know an individual by the name of Gerald Desrosier? PM me either way

[Free kick]

Is this about soccer?

You have to have a board and board members who add a perspective and bring competencies that relate to soccer and growth of soccer and its culture rather than have board member who bring nothing else other than the fact that they represent province XXX or province YYY.

As far as Quebec, I would rather see the perspective of the Montreal Impact represented on the board rather than some guy who represents a hundred or so regional association of players who will play for a year and then quite the game and move on to hockey. When you have representation which is solely based on regional/provincial ( AKA political), whose is asking the questions:

1) Why we didn't fair well in Qualifying for the WC?

2) Why our players are up against it (talentwise) in winning spots on Professional clubs?

3) Why our budget and revenues are where they are and not at the level of country ZZZ

4) Why we cant get better attendance for National team games?

5) Are we hiring the right coaches?

6) Do the coaches at amateur level have the right competencies to teach and develop talent for the professional levels

Nope, because if you are on the board to represent the interests of Alberta or Quebec, you will only represent the interest of Quebec and Alberta because that what they sent you there for. All the things such as the six points above don't really matter or are a very distant second. To get those six points on the agenda, you need perspective and input from:

1) Former NT players on international play

2) Professional clubs (Whitecaps, Impact, & TFC) on the player skills they need and how to brand and sell the National teams to the public at large.

3) The business community on how to grow revenues and channel expenditures to grow the game

4) Former Coaches to ensure that amateur players know and understand what needs to be taught and and how it is to be taught.