PJSweet Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/185612--new-bc-soccer-premier-league-launched I'm curious to know if this is all part of the scheme to integrate Ontario and Quebec into this new D3 league system that the Canadian Soccer News has recently been talking about. ----------------------------------------------- New BC soccer premier league launched Eight clubs announced Treena Wood Feb 17, 2011 15:16:31 PM VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Soccer moms and dads across the Lower Mainland have been waiting for this news all day. The eight clubs that make up the new BC Soccer Premier League have been announced. They include the Abbotsford Soccer Association, The South Fraser Soccer Club, and the Vancouver/Richmond Soccer Club. The new league is meant to support player development through increased levels of competition for the top soccer athletes in the province. The full announcement VANCOUVER (Thursday, February 17th, 2011) – Eight founding franchises representing more than 80 per cent of the population of British Columbia will form the inaugural roster of entries in the new BC Soccer Premier League announced today by BC Soccer, its Board of Directors and the High Performance League Committee formed to create the new player development initiative. The eight founding franchises for the BC Soccer Premier League are: Abbotsford Soccer Association; Burnaby/ North Shore; Coquitlam Metro Ford Soccer Club; Lower Island Soccer Association/Upper Island Soccer Association (Vancouver Island); South Fraser Soccer Club; Surrey United Soccer Club; Thompson Okanagan Football Club; Vancouver/Richmond. “We’re delighted to launch the new BC Soccer Premier League on the strength of these eight founding franchises,” said Steve Allen of Surrey, B.C., the member of the BC Soccer Board of Directors who served as Chair of the HPL Committee comprised of 16 soccer leaders from the club, district and league level in BC. “We’re excited to welcome the eight founding franchises to what will be the top tier of soccer competition in the province and we look forward to working with the franchises and our membership to build the BC Soccer Premier League into something special for the game at all levels. “Our spirit of intent is to create the best possible conditions for player development and to support Canada’s national team program and strengthen the game throughout BC and across the country,” said Allen. “There is not a better time to be doing that with the support of strong stakeholders such as the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and our membership, especially given the interest, excitement and energy being generated for the game with the debut of the Whitecaps in Major League Soccer and another MLS franchise scheduled for Montreal next year.” The BC Soccer Premier League will run a pilot mini-season this fall and launch its first full season in March of 2012, when it will immediately take its place among the major provincial sports leagues in British Columbia. Founding franchises in the new league feature clubs serving players in strong BC sports markets such as Vancouver, Chilliwack, Kamloops and Kelowna in the Western Hockey League and BC Hockey League centres such as Alberni Valley, Coquitlam, Cowichan Valley, Langley, Nanaimo, Penticton, Powell River, Salmon Arm, Surrey, Vernon, Victoria and Westside (Kelowna), along with the American Hockey League hub of Abbotsford. “The BC Soccer Premier League will have a tremendous reach and local presence built on the infrastructure of the founding franchises and will be right up there with the leading provincial platforms in other sports,” noted BC Soccer Executive Director Bjorn Osieck of North Vancouver, B.C. “As an example, in our inaugural year, the league will cover 12 of 16 BCHL markets and four of the six markets synonymous with the WHL’s BC Division.” The inaugural roster of franchises was accepted by the HPL Committee and submitted to the Board of Directors on recommendations from a selection panel comprised of Paul Barber, CEO of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Canadian Soccer Association U17 national team head coach Sean Fleming and Paul Mullen, Director of Operations for BC Soccer and former executive with the English Football Association (FA). “This process has created an excitement for the game in our community and throughout the province and we congratulate not only the successful franchises, but all of the applicants for their time, effort and cooperation in putting forward very strong submissions,” said Barber. “With the emergence of the BC Soccer Premier League and the Whitecaps’ launch into Major League Soccer, soccer interest in British Columbia is at an all-time high.” The HPL committee brought together a series of key player development principles and alignment with competitive platforms across the country. As an example, the playing season for the BC Soccer Premier League, which will feature divisions of play at the U13, U14, U15, U16 and U17/U18 levels, shall be from March to November. “We thank the HPL committee members, our tripartite selection panel and of course our membership, which has been very supportive and enthusiastic about what this will mean for soccer in BC and over the long term, across Canada,” said Charlie Cuzzetto of Vancouver, President and Chair of the Board of Directors of BC Soccer. “The BC Soccer Premier League is certainly about the top boys and girls players in the province but by creating a new tier of play, it will also help improve the game for all players at all levels.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcoatsforever Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 So is this a youth league? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soccerpro Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 So, what's with all the hype for this league? Isn't it just a youth league with a schedule more in line with the rest of Canada? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 There's been a subtle change of name from BC Soccer High Performance League as it was called during the proposal and bidding stage to BC Soccer Premier League per the BC Soccer media release naming the successful franchise bidders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 So is this a youth league? My question too. It looks like the current youth soccer with a different name and a segregation of the B and C or Silver and Bronze levels. First we had Metro, then Y-League, now this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThiKu Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Erm, well you know, I guess it depends on if you consider the following to be significant changes; 1. Reversing the playing calendar (now Spring-to-Fall when previously Fall-to-Spring) 2. Periodization and coaching standards 3. removal of district boundary 4. club-wide requirements (ie, must enter boys and girls in all age groups u13-u17/18 and have male and female adult programs to stream into) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Yes, from a simplistic, uninformed point of view this could be regarded as merely yet another youth league, but of course it isn't. Just a few minutes of research might enlighten you. Here would be a good place to start: BC Soccer High Performance Player Development - BC Soccer BC Soccer and the British Columbia soccer community is due plenty of credit for taking this initiative which is now likely to be imitated by other provinces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcoatsforever Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Yes, from a simplistic, uninformed point of view this could be regarded as merely yet another youth league, but of course it isn't. Just a few minutes of research might enlighten you. Here would be a good place to start: BC Soccer High Performance Player Development - BC Soccer BC Soccer and the British Columbia soccer community is due plenty of credit for taking this initiative which is now likely to be imitated by other provinces. You inserted the word "yet another", I asked if it was a youth league, because I was under the impression that the new youth league was being called HPL. There was no need to be a pompous ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThiKu Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 You inserted the word "yet another", I asked if it was a youth league, because I was under the impression that the new youth league was being called HPL. There was no need to be a pompous ass. Yep, they changed the name from HPL to BCPL. I thought it was just a mistake by the author of the first newspaper article I read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 ^ Then don't ask such a vacuous question in a thread full of information about the very league in question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcoatsforever Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 ^ Then don't ask such a vacuous question in a thread full of information about the very league in question. The age groups mentioned could have easily been an "academy" system feeding into adult squads like what the CSL are setting up in Ontario right now. The article didn't give many specifics, and that's actually the only piece of real information in the thread. Or rather, it was until ThiKu actually just answered the question. Worth noting; ThiKu did it without being a pompous ass, and then without being an even more pompous ass by claiming someone's innocent query was "vacuous". By the way, congratulations on owning a thesaurus, it still doesn't make you likeable. I'm not entirely sure what I did in asking a simple question that makes you annoyed, but it's clear you have a real superiority complex and I would wager a serious problem with other human beings asking questions. Grow the hell up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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