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Canadian Club Development (the general feel of things)


Tuscan

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I couldn't think of a better subject line for this thread, but it is born out of the general sentiment I've come across when speaking with people involved in soccer organizations looking to expand into some form of elite competitive league (part of the USL pyramid, CSL, NASL, etc...).

First off, many don't feel a Pan-Canadian league is worthwhile investigating, as they see the USL as having already done the leg work at regionalizing North America north of Mexico. While personally I think they're missing the point, and are actually acting as detriments to Canadian club soccer development, it is interesting to note how the USL has actually made it possible for franchises in its PDL and Super-20 leagues to spread into the proverbial black hole that is the Canadian Prairies and the US Mid-West/Prairies. I know for a fact that a group in Saskatoon is close to confirming a Super-20 franchise, which disappoints me initially as I believe it is for self-serving purposes rather than actually trying to build an organization fully linked to the Saskatoon, and Saskatchewan, soccer community. I won't elaborate on this further but if anyone is interested in an explanation, and perhaps comparing how things are working in their city, please PM me.

It seems Calgary is the lynchpin for seeing things actually take off in this part of the country. For some reason, if Calgary agrees to enter into a league, all other centers will enter into the same league. Until an organization (most likely Calgary Utd.) from Cowtown makes a commitment, it doesn't seem that anyone else in Alberta or Saskatchewan are willing to take the plunge. I'm not a fool. I understand how the economics of expansion work. Once the big player that is (seemingly) financially stable jumps into the pool, all of a sudden everyone else realizes the pool won't leak and follows him. Why Calgary has been so slow to enter into a league beyond the CMISL has me baffled - they have the player base to do so.

Thoughts on your own neck of the woods? Is there a single player in your city that is holding the aces in regards to whether your center gets a franchise in an upper league? What league seems to be the front runner in your city?

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Thoughts on your own neck of the woods? Is there a single player in your city that is holding the aces in regards to whether your center gets a franchise in an upper league? What league seems to be the front runner in your city?

Well, London City has a CSL team, but I'll leave that out since it's confirmed and can't move upward. Forest City London of the PDL could potentially expand their market share by going into USLPRO, NASL, or perhaps getting into a Canadian D2 if one emerges. FCL are well run, just started an academy, and are looking like the best option for those soccer fans in London who have a lot of unrequited love for other teams.

I would love a Pan Canadian league, but I think going off of a CHL style structure for either a junior PDL type league or a full on second division is more reasonable in the near term than going coastal.

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well joining in PDL is a good start. Or CSL (or the new Quebec/Ontario) league is a good starting point. It puts a club in place. Begins a history and competitive environment as well. If enough of these clubs grow they can then choose to remove themselves from the leagues they are in and collaborate above the 49th.

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well joining in PDL is a good start. Or CSL (or the new Quebec/Ontario) league is a good starting point. It puts a club in place. Begins a history and competitive environment as well. If enough of these clubs grow they can then choose to remove themselves from the leagues they are in and collaborate above the 49th.

yeah, as much as I 100% agree with the idea/concept/goal of a pan canadian league, we need clubs in general at the best level their sustainable. If we had 100 teams ranging from the high side of amateur to semi pro to low level pro, then we'd probably have the critical mass to 'build' a structure. Right now though, it's fairly obvious a new d-2ish league will need quite a few new owners (or more initial money) across the nation.

The more realistic options would be working with american leagues (and if that is the only option, better that then nothing) but for the idea of a national leauge it could be a bit stifling long term by taking that decent market for a distant league (instead of letting it be the local center). If we want a large number of clubs we need more startup leagues in the open markets (so we can get like canadian 8 teams for every couple american league teams, let nature take it's course and see what fits the area and improve from there).

Honestly: if we could develope a maritime and a couple praire csl copycats, then hope that in a few years they were competitive with the csl itself, Hopefully BC continue to build on their work and step up to semi pro, And maybe Quebec can be fleshed out by this new league/csl competition (before, as I'm hoping, they kiss and make up). Even grab american league teams to flesh out the remaining regional gaps and the obvious d-2 gap.

If we had a 100 decent clubs we would have enough building blocks to construct a league on the drawing board into a system that would allow us to pool resources (a national division), let clubs compete at a comfortable level (ie relegation over bankruptcy) and to take advantage of regional peculiarities (ie, take advantage of the population centers, and give the less densely populated areas the best system they can maintain and a place in the pyramid).

The only problem is if all the decent markets go into american leagues, the so - so markets nearby won't be as usable (maybe they can form around the american league club's youth teams). We would be pegged into a system designed for a country with a huge population instead of designing something regionally sensitive. We would be partly handing responsibility for our developement over to our rivals (their rules, their calls, their plans (which won't involve us)). We would be short sightedly grabbing what we can for our proper markets instead finely taking advantage of our countries mildly higher interest rates.

Basically what I mean is we could have our own system with a good number of roster spots and probably still have guys sign with american league clubs whenever it's applicapable, they just couldn't do both at once as much, but if they did it right, their would just be more diverse options and more options overall. We need clubs in general, realistically though our domestic leagues have to outpace the american ones so they can be the power brokers when we have all our pieces together.

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I couldn't think of a better subject line for this thread,.....

It seems Calgary is the lynchpin for seeing things actually take off in this part of the country. For some reason, if Calgary agrees to enter into a league, all other centers will enter into the same league. Until an organization (most likely Calgary Utd.) from Cowtown makes a commitment, it doesn't seem that anyone else in Alberta or Saskatchewan are willing to take the plunge. I'm not a fool. I understand how the economics of expansion work. Once the big player that is (seemingly) financially stable jumps into the pool, all of a sudden everyone else realizes the pool won't leak and follows him. Why Calgary has been so slow to enter into a league beyond the CMISL has me baffled - they have the player base to do so.....

Number one problem. No suitable facility even for PDL level. Our soccer field situation is frankly an embarrassment only outdone by the ASA situation.

The PDL team started back in 2001 was top notch, with the fans putting up with the crap field outside McMahon. But no way was that love going to last with that facility. Moving to McMahon with the 2nd iteration of the USL Div 1 (Mustangs) was not much of an improvement as no team can hope to survive renting out that cavernous monstrosity for long.

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Yep I agree with ya. It has to be regional. For me a top D2 league does not have to be one that has Moncton in the same league as Victoria. But Rather, their conferences would be attached to the same league. so Moncton might not go further than Toronto....??? Victoria might not go further than Prairies (pick your Province in that regard I guess depending number of franchises). So yes, I envision something like CSL's popping up across the country maybe having 2 provinces per league and going from there leading to a full cup, league, and playoff format. ??

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Calgary's sports scene is also very saturated. Flames, Stampeders, Hitmen, and then it drops off to Roughnecks lacrosse (might fold if not bought soon), baseball. To get into 4th you really need a facility with 5k seats, good team, great marketing and lots of luck. As you can see two of the top 3 draws are hockey and even the Stamps were in dire straights not too long ago (they have successfully turned it around and are a solid # 2 now).

I keep thinking Futsal might be able to draw more than arena soccer. There are gyms (SAIT, UofC, Mount Royal) that can seat hundreds, there are no boards blocking the sight lines. It might appeal to more of the traditional soccer crowd and most importantly the teams are smaller (12 players) so travel and lodging costs are kept lower. At least there are facilities unlike the outdoor game here in Calgary.

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I keep thinking Futsal might be able to draw more than arena soccer. There are gyms (SAIT, UofC, Mount Royal) that can seat hundreds, there are no boards blocking the sight lines. It might appeal to more of the traditional soccer crowd and most importantly the teams are smaller (12 players) so travel and lodging costs are kept lower. At least there are facilities unlike the outdoor game here in Calgary.

It's interesting in Alberta as they are the only province/state in USA/Canada that has a sanctioned futsal league at the university level for both mens and womens. It is a 3 tournament format and has some legs. Ontario will be the next and then others will follow. One day you will see NCAA Futsal Madness or something to that extent, a far ways off yes, but one day it'll happen.

Indoor soccer at the college level makes ZERO sense as schools have to pay for indoor domes when they in fact have perfect courts in their own backyard. Pull and ING Direct and save your money is what we're trying to say. Cheaper to play, enhanced technical skills development, and being a safer game make futsal sport a no brainer. Mark my words folks, one day you'll you see Toronto Futsal vs New York Futsal, or Vancouver Futsal vs Seattle Futsal. Maybe we'll call it MLF, but then again people might confuse it with MILF ;)

Futsal Canada is working hard on something for the 2011/2012 season that would feature 2 futsal clubs from London, Ottawa, Buffalo, Toronto, Hamilton, and Montreal for a league so stay tuned for that.

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BC's new BC Premier League (youth) has a futsal requirement. All clubs must offer this for the youth. As such each BCPL franchise has a requirement to field both male and female adult 11v11 programs. I suspect and hope this futsal component will include them...? Can you provide me a link for the Alberta Uni Futsal info?

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BC's new BC Premier League (youth) has a futsal requirement. All clubs must offer this for the youth. As such each BCPL franchise has a requirement to field both male and female adult 11v11 programs. I suspect and hope this futsal component will include them...? Can you provide me a link for the Alberta Uni Futsal info?

http://www.acac.ab.ca/pages/futsal-mens.php

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