CSA AGM Passes Constitution Committee Recommendations

[Martyr]

In a way, the real problem with CSA funding is again with the Provincial Associations. As members each Provincial Association pays a membership fee. The CSA should simply charge a single fee for each member, as opposed to announcing a "player levy" as they do now. Directly linking their funding to registered players has become a marketing disaster. Full membership should cost X with premiums added on for specific services provided. In this way, professional clubs would have to pay the same fee to be full members of the association, just like the provinces.

[Trillium]

In a way, the real problem with CSA funding is again with the Provincial Associations. As members each Provincial Association pays a membership fee. The CSA should simply charge a single fee for each member, as opposed to announcing a "player levy" as they do now. Directly linking their funding to registered players has become a marketing disaster. Full membership should cost X with premiums added on for specific services provided. In this way, professional clubs would have to pay the same fee to be full members of the association, just like the provinces.

Your missing a critical point the Provinces represent a layer of managment that is not necessary, the new CSA should become a direct membership association. Dump the provinces have "Districts" and have the districts report to the CSA, and again... all clubs direct elect the CSA board.

This single act would liberate milliions of dollars to be used by the CSA without repeating expenses ten times accross Canada for each province running its own IT staff and registration system.

Millions are wasted.. just ask Ontario Clubs.

[Martyr]

^ All true. I agree completely. I wish it could happen tomorrow...

...however, I'm thinking of evolution rather than revolution. Not because I'm not in favour of revolution, but because I believe there is no chance of revolution. The CSA is it's membership. That membership - whether we like it or not - is comprised of the Provincial Associations. It would take all of the Provincial associations voluntarily dissolving (and therefore the CSA dissolving) for clubs to then form their own CSA and have it recognized by FIFA. FIFA would never recognize a competing association - the CSA would have to disappear first. If we don't care about FIFA and the World Cup then yes I'm all for revolution, but, as corrupt as FIFA is, we are stuck with them if we have any interest in the World Cup.

Amateur clubs aren't even recognized as members of the Provincial Associations let alone the CSA (unless you consider Districts that run teams as a club). Getting the CSA to acknowledge amateur clubs directly as members is a grand vision, but it just isn't remotely likely. I think the best we can hope for in the near future is a proliferation of 'professional' clubs as members. That would mean all D3 clubs (PDL and CSL) being given direct membership (as opposed to the leagues they play in).

In the meantime, pressure needs to be put on the Provincial Associations by their members to do what they should be doing... providing expert guidance and political support to allow their clubs (not districts or leagues) provide the best possible coaching and playing environments for their players. I agree completely that Provincial Associations need to get away from actually trying to develop the players. They need to develop the coaches, administrators and referees. They need to foster the infrastructure - the game itself is for the clubs and the players.

[Vic]

^ that was actually surprisingly fair and perceptive (a rarity for the topic) but I see just one problem with that Martyr.

There are two professional academies in Canada: TFC and the Whitecaps. Having just two means there are not enough major players in the game to keep each other in check and things honest. There is no professional club infrastructure to properly recruit the best kids and provide them the best coaching.

Club soccer outside of these two from coast to coast is politics, money, distrust and dysfunction. Are there even two amateur youth clubs in the country who like each other? It's castles and hands off "my" kid.

The provincial associations are club-agnostic. Sure there are aberrational dynsfuncs here and there, every system has it's share of wankers. But they are few and far between. The minute you remove that neutrality any attempt to polarize talent becomes a cesspool of social fragmentation. You will never, ever have even 10% of the best kids training together.

I believe that's why these programs exist and also get the feeling that if there was a professional alternative that ran itself like a true academy they would willfully and gladly fall back to a management role. But again the problem is there isn't, all we have are amateur community club dressups and better run endeavours banking thousands of bucks a kid a year. The former means we're back decades in our development system and the latter turns the sport into an upper middle-class ghetto.

If you want to neutralize the provinces, you have to come up with a system that brings together the best players, the best coaches and the best facilities, and do it in a way that doesn't discriminate on financial wealth.

The only reasonable thing I've heard has been better district pools instead of provincial regions, but the kicker there is the associations are wed to the provinces in terms of administration, management and funding. So unless you were willing to undergo the long and costly process of decoupling, any gerrymandering of areas would have to be intra-provincial as opposed to inter-provincial.

[jpg75]

You might want to review the governance model of Skate Canada... you will see its much more democratic, gives control to local clubs..and shock os shock produces world champions.... oh and they use the internet to communicate.

To think you cant communicate issues today effectively and at low cost is to hide your head in the ground.

Might want to re-check your facts:

http://www.skatecanada.ca/en/about_skate_canada/who_we_are/

Structure

Skate Canada is run by a Board of Directors who set policy. The Board is made up of the Chairman who is elected for a three-year term, the immediate past Chair, three vice-chairs, eight nationally-elected directors, 13 regionally-elected chairmen, three appointed Committee chairmen, two athlete representatives, five ISU representatives, two coaching representatives and a secretary-treasurer (usually the Chief Executive Officer).

Sections

To make organization and administration easier, Skate Canada is divided into 13 Sections roughly equivalent to the Canadian provinces. The exception is Ontario which is broken down into four Sections because of its size. Yukon Territory is administered by the British Columbia Section and Nunavut and Northwest Territories are administered by the Alberta Section. The chairman of each Section has a seat on Skate Canada's Board of Directors.

[Macksam]

There are two professional academies in Canada: TFC and the Whitecaps. Having just two means there are not enough major players in the game to keep each other in check and things honest. There is no professional club infrastructure to properly recruit the best kids and provide them the best coaching.

Three actually. I'm liking TFC's new youth development plan.

[canucklefan]

Three actually. I'm liking TFC's new youth development plan.

Can you explain please what's new in TFC's youth development plan?