Vic Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Original CSN Post on the new CSA Strategic Plan: Taking care of our own: CSA looks to increase pro opportunities for Canadian men at home and in MLS The CSA is committed to finding a homegrown solution to the lack of professional playing opportunities for Canadian men. - (underlines mine) The CSA’s strategy document read: 2.1 Support the development of elite-level, semi-professional regional leagues that provide a bridge between high-performance youth players and national/professional team selection. I asked “Is the gendered translation of this something they offered up or your interpretation?” Duane Rollins replied: “There was no reference to women's semi-pro leagues starting, nor plans for them. That, combined with the MLS aspect of the article, was to root of the pronoun choice.” He was honest and quick with his reply and kudos to him. These excerpts from the strategy document are also genderless: 1.2 Fully implement a National Player Development Pathway that coordinates the identification and development of elite players through professional clubs, training centres and a scouting network in order to provide a continual pipeline for all National Teams. 2.0 Our National Team coaches do not have the benefit of selecting players who regularly compete in an elite level domestic league. The world’s top national teams draw from their domestic leagues. The development of a home-grown system in which our best players can compete is of paramount importance. The next question was how do we expect to develop elite women's soccer players when there are no full-season programs beyond beer league that practice once a week? If half the players coming out of youth leagues are women, and they comparatively have worse options to continue to develop, would we not want to put half our energy into solving their problem? Isn’t that what is written in the document? Isn’t that the mandate of the constituency? The common brush-off used by people with ties to men’s soccer is to talk about the “reality” of women’s soccer in Canada. The reality we exist in has been shaped by an association that has failed to find a way to develop a single Canadian women’s club program that offers full-season playing and training beyond a very amateur footprint of standards. Whereas associations of other countries of all shapes and sizes and cultures and political orientations have seeded and put in the time and energy and developed leagues and clubs and programs with standards, formal structure and planning, we have completely ignored it. In most countries the money is token but the programs aren’t. And they constantly improve them. In Canada it’s been turning a blind eye and saying it doesn’t exist and then using it’s non-existence to continually deny having to do anything about it. The French and Germans got to work on this and created leagues 40 years ago. The Scandinavians 30. Had we had the foresight and dedicated people involved we could have the best women’s league in the world right now. Instead it’s been decades of lip service, we're one of the worst, and here we go again. Is it going to be another 30 years of stagnation? Are we going to be sitting here in 2050 with the exact same amateur women’s teams practicing once a week that we have not just now, but had in 1980? “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein "The real risk is doing nothing." - Denis Waitley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 I just read two quotes: "We're trying to change the landscape of sport in Canada" "where the goal of being a “leading soccer nation” by 2018 was reverberated." A leading soccer nation? By completely ignoring the entire women's playing ecosystem and focusing on 20 players on our national teams? Is that a leading nation? Or a trompe-l'œil? China did that. How well did hosting a WC in 2007 and Olympics in 2008 work out for them? They're still in the same free fall they've been in since 2003. The world has moved past them because they failed to develop their infrastructure. The Quebec City/Windsor corridor is smaller than Sweden and Norway. It's also twice the population of Sweden and almost four times Norway. One of whom almost won the Euro and the other has been a top five team for most of the last decade. If we had been more action and less words we could now have exceptional women's programs and the best women's league in the world. Instead we have nothing to show for four decades of women's soccer and probably close to a half-million females playing. If we had empowered women and given them control of their future 40 years ago, we certainly wouldn't be where we are now. I don't know the way out, but one things for sure - what we've been doing certainly isn't working. The best money the CSA could spend would be to hire Ciara McCormick full-time and empower her. Better late than never. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I just read two quotes: "We're trying to change the landscape of sport in Canada" "where the goal of being a “leading soccer nation” by 2018 was reverberated." A leading soccer nation? By completely ignoring the entire women's playing ecosystem and focusing on 20 players on our national teams? Is that a leading nation? Or a trompe-l'œil? China did that. How well did hosting a WC in 2007 and Olympics in 2008 work out for them? They're still in the same free fall they've been in since 2003. The world has moved past them because they failed to develop their infrastructure. The Quebec City/Windsor corridor is smaller than Sweden and Norway. It's also twice the population of Sweden and almost four times Norway. One of whom almost won the Euro and the other has been a top five team for most of the last decade. If we had been more action and less words we could now have exceptional women's programs and the best women's league in the world. Instead we have nothing to show for four decades of women's soccer and probably close to a half-million females playing. If we had empowered women and given them control of their future 40 years ago, we certainly wouldn't be where we are now. I don't know the way out, but one things for sure - what we've been doing certainly isn't working. The best money the CSA could spend would be to hire Ciara McCormick full-time and empower her. Better late than never. The CSA should also teach common courtesy to coaches so they respond to correspondence and teach them the responsibility to scout for players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trillium Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I just read two quotes: "We're trying to change the landscape of sport in Canada" "where the goal of being a “leading soccer nation” by 2018 was reverberated." A leading soccer nation? By completely ignoring the entire women's playing ecosystem and focusing on 20 players on our national teams? Is that a leading nation? Or a trompe-l'œil? China did that. How well did hosting a WC in 2007 and Olympics in 2008 work out for them? They're still in the same free fall they've been in since 2003. The world has moved past them because they failed to develop their infrastructure. The Quebec City/Windsor corridor is smaller than Sweden and Norway. It's also twice the population of Sweden and almost four times Norway. One of whom almost won the Euro and the other has been a top five team for most of the last decade. If we had been more action and less words we could now have exceptional women's programs and the best women's league in the world. Instead we have nothing to show for four decades of women's soccer and probably close to a half-million females playing. If we had empowered women and given them control of their future 40 years ago, we certainly wouldn't be where we are now. I don't know the way out, but one things for sure - what we've been doing certainly isn't working. The best money the CSA could spend would be to hire Ciara McCormick full-time and empower her. Better late than never. Why would hiring Ciara McCormick do anything ? Irish national soccer player to save Canadian womens soccer ? You do confuse me at times Vic, the real issue is getting the CSA types to recognize the business potential of the women's game, and trust me they do not get it even if we are hosting 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 That's part of it. We need energy. New ideas. Passion. People who live and breathe the game. People with vision and ambition who take the answer and work backwards until it works. The world has moved far past us in developing opportunities for women playing soccer. We can keep dancing the jig on a bought ranking like we're God's gift to the planet, but all we're doing is overspending everyone else on our team and running a tournament. That didn't work out for China and it won't for us. If someone thinks it will and they need to wake up 10 years from now to realize it won't, that's a shame. Why Ciara McCormick for helping develop Canadian women's club soccer? She's intelligent, ambitious, committed to the women's game, has tons of energy, and has context of how it's done in many places around the world. We have a tendency in Canadian soccer to go around the world to find talent when sometimes it's right under our noses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohan Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I just read two quotes: "We're trying to change the landscape of sport in Canada" "where the goal of being a “leading soccer nation” by 2018 was reverberated." A leading soccer nation? By completely ignoring the entire women's playing ecosystem and focusing on 20 players on our national teams? Is that a leading nation? Or a trompe-l'œil? China did that. How well did hosting a WC in 2007 and Olympics in 2008 work out for them? They're still in the same free fall they've been in since 2003. The world has moved past them because they failed to develop their infrastructure. The Quebec City/Windsor corridor is smaller than Sweden and Norway. It's also twice the population of Sweden and almost four times Norway. One of whom almost won the Euro and the other has been a top five team for most of the last decade. If we had been more action and less words we could now have exceptional women's programs and the best women's league in the world. Instead we have nothing to show for four decades of women's soccer and probably close to a half-million females playing. If we had empowered women and given them control of their future 40 years ago, we certainly wouldn't be where we are now. I don't know the way out, but one things for sure - what we've been doing certainly isn't working. The best money the CSA could spend would be to hire Ciara McCormick full-time and empower her. Better late than never. leading nation in women's soccer doesn't get the prestige of a soccer nation. nobody gives a **** that the US is the dominant women's soccer nation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Nobody meaning men. The millions of women playing and paying in the United States do, as well as most women playing the game around the world. The half-million who play in Canada are pretty aware too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohan Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Nobody meaning men. The millions of women playing and paying in the United States do, as well as most women playing the game around the world. The half-million who play in Canada are pretty aware too. once supporting women's game becomes more profitable, more associations will devote money to women's game. modern football Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 If it was all males funding the CSA that would make sense. It's not, it's almost half female, and sponsorship is only 25% of the CSA's revenue. And they rightly expect their game to receive a similar share to what they contribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandOne Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Why would hiring Ciara McCormick do anything ? Irish national soccer player to save Canadian womens soccer ? You do confuse me at times Vic, the real issue is getting the CSA types to recognize the business potential of the women's game, and trust me they do not get it even if we are hosting 2015. OMG, Trillium sometimes I could CHOKE YOU OUT !! If you don't know what Ciara McCormack has done for soccer IN CANADA, then PLEASE SHUT THE PIE HOLE !! How many years has she run the Western Canada Showcase-- a decade perhaps?? Just please.... pipe down about Ciara. And no, running a tourney once a year doesn't make her a genius but her two degrees from Yale sorta HINT AT THAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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