Pan Am Games Toronto 2015

[Vic]

Training/selection at the international level will always be by invitation.  Otherwise it's unwieldy.

 

Top footballers are found in every square inch of England.  Here there are maybe 10 areas all with or near an NTC.  Can Marta come from Lake-of-the-Woods?  Sure, but to develop the kind of skills she'll need to be identified she'll need to play in a challenging league and will showcase her talent in a metropolitan area.  It's arguably been easier to scout women in Canada.  Or well it was until the WSL.  Sampson doesn't have to scout/appraise, the league does it for him.

 

We've pretty much had the same core group for a while but they all had to ship back out to their clubs because the FIFA window closed. So we had choices, go with a second 20, a young 20, or a mixture.  That would be an interesting debate.  The young 20 got the opportunity here and being in the summer it's actually great timing for them.  There's flashes here and there and they've played better than their results and hopefully saved the best for the last tonight.

 

I just wished we did things like this on a regular basis and by choice and engineering instead of reaction.  Like holding second 20 camps.  Or a young 20 again to China.  Or simply invited players from within Canada (how absurd!).

[The Ref]

 

Training/selection at the international level will always be by invitation.  Otherwise it's unwieldy.

 

Sampson doesn't have to scout/appraise, the league does it for him.

I am not quite sure what all your points are.  But restricting selection I see that as a problem, we need to expand our horizons.  And what league is going to scout/appraise players for Sampson?  It is the man at the top who presumably has the expertise to appraise, not some league.  If a league does a poor job, the man at the top only gets to see then poor players.  A vicious circle or not?  What assurance is there that those naturally talented players from the Lake-of-the-woods will get on a league.  If it were up to me I would like to see players on the raw and make my own decisions.

[ThruBall]

Training/selection at the international level will always be by invitation.  Otherwise it's unwieldy.

 

Or simply invited players from within Canada (how absurd!).

That's the point! Canadian NT identification has been poor; progressively worse over time. NT rankings back this fact. Herdman himself has stated the same on the Women's side.

The program doesn't work!

Hardly unwieldy, for a nation to pull off 3 World Cup championships in 10 years, a mere schedule of combines on a regional and periodic basis is hardly a challenge.

The real issue is politics! The provincial bodies would blow a gasket. Take Ontario, as we speak, the OSA is battling SAAC (19 private academies) in the trenches for membership to their OPDL league. Their trump card is "the official pathway" to the NT". Even though they have scrapped the Excel program, still OPDL is the only avenue.

It's sad really that politics keeps taking the sport down dark hallways to no where.

Co-op potions among development efforts will yield the better player. Co-existence is the right path forward. Unfettered access to the NT coaches on behalf of the player is what will fill the Canadian Rosters with bright new talented future stars.

If the old guard can't, won't compete....... Well what does that say about these self interest, self important, people? At least stick your head up an admit your role in this sparkling soccer program called Canada Soccer.

It took 40 years to tank Blatter.......

How long will it take to get open tryouts for the National team?

[Vic]

There isn't a national team in the world with open tryouts.  Open process yes, open tryouts no.

 

I am not quite sure what all your points are.  But restricting selection I see that as a problem, we need to expand our horizons.  And what league is going to scout/appraise players for Sampson?  It is the man at the top who presumably has the expertise to appraise, not some league.  If a league does a poor job, the man at the top only gets to see then poor players.  A vicious circle or not?  What assurance is there that those naturally talented players from the Lake-of-the-woods will get on a league.  If it were up to me I would like to see players on the raw and make my own decisions.

 

I don't think you're alone in liking to make your own decisions.  

 

Who is invited and the process for doing that are two different things.  You can have an open system with invitations, it just depends who you select.  And conversely you can have a closed system with tryouts.  If I had a dime for every phoney tryout I've seen I'd be a millionaire.

 

England now has WSL1 (Link | Link).  WSL1 scouts WSL2 and the regional leagues to pull in the best players.  All he has to do is catch weekend matches between March and October.  Same thing for Pellerud in Norway.  Anyone who's anyone watches these matches all year too, so all his assistants and scouts are out as well.  Someone great outside WSL1?  He would have contacts all over the country to vet them for him.

 

The onus is on the player from the Lake of the Woods to get themselves to a high level of play in the country to show their talent (and probably develop and refine it as well).  The phrase is build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door, but in women's soccer you have to put the mousetrap on display, and someone has to be looking.

 

We're actually not unusual in terms of new blood.  About 2/3 of this year's World Cup were on the team in the 2011 World Cup before John Herdman took over, similar to the Americans and Japanese.  England was a bit on the lower side at about 50%.  Pellerud went down to 40%.

 

How did Herdman change Morace's squad since he came in four years ago?

 

He kept 15 of her players:

 

Karina LeBlanc

Emily Zurrer.  

Carmelina Moscato

Robyn Gayle

Kaylyn Kyle

Rhian Wilkinson

Diana Matheson

Desiree Scott

Christine Sinclair

Sophie Schmidt

Melissa Tancredi

Jonelle Filigno

Erin McLeod

Marie-Ève Nault

Stephanie Labbé

 

He brought in four young players, three teenagers (Jessie Fleming, Kadeisha Buchanan, and Ashley Lawrence) and Adriana Leon from the U20 in 2012.  The jury isn't in on all of them and everyone brings in young players but this is is to be admired.

 

He went after Josée Bélanger who played briefly for Pellerud and Morace, to be admired as well.

 

Lauren Sesselmann who was getting her citizenship before Herdman arrived, that simply followed it's course.

 

He brought in Selenia Iacchelli almost 30 who received spare minutes, and the aforementioned Allysha Chapman.

 

This will all have to change in 12 months though after the post-Rio exodus.  A large number of that 15/23 will move on.  Then the staff will have to make their stamp on the team and we'll see a lot more transition.  And I don't think any of us would have a problem with them taking some of the budget and getting out and seeing players in the country.  At the very least to give the appearance they care and are interested.

 

Andre De Grasse just won the 100m and 200m.  Three years ago he was in a 100m race in Toronto wearing baggy basketball shorts and a t-shirt and was standing upright because he had never used blocks.  These people exist.

[Vic]

Pretty fair result in the tournament for the team.  We lacked poise enough to do better which is expected with young players.  I'm tempted to say not bad for their age and deservedly, but it's the senior team so that would be disingenuous and disrespectful in another way.

 

If you're willing to accept the inconsistency of youth there are plenty of signs of life here and there.  Even the players who made mistakes showed signs of solid mettle.  How can you expect to play sensationally at a level you have never even played at before?  

 

Buchanan, Lawrence and Fleming were pretty ineffective - a good lesson for them.

 

Despite her killing attacks shooting poorly from everywhere, I like Beckie's seriousness and mentality, and I like Quinn's ability to smile and enjoy herself.  Being a woman playing soccer in Canada you sure need both.

 

And for all their inexperience I wouldn't put the loss on our players, our tactics were not good enough.  And that's not player selection, it's how we went after the result.  Our method of attacking was above the level of our players and we didn't adjust and play the percentages.

 

Canadian women's soccer is a whole lot better for James Sharman and Clare Rustad.  They make everyone else look weak and pale, including the CTV crew.

[The Ref]

^ Your beloved Herdman also went after Kara Lang, who unfortunately re-injured herself.  She is now with-child so out for a while.  Just curious, what do you call a national team coach who travels all over a country looking for players? I know of one for sure.

[67soccer]

Pretty fair result in the tournament for the team.  We lacked poise enough to do better which is expected with young players.  I'm tempted to say not bad for their age and deservedly, but it's the senior team so that would be disingenuous and disrespectful in another way.

 

 

 

How is this a fair result ?? This is the next generation of our senior team .... so honestly please explain .

 

Your comment is exactly what is wrong with Canada soccer,we set low expectations and that is all we are given and YOU are happy with it . Is it not time to set the BAR higher and hold the CSA and its Provincial bodies accountable .

[Vic]

Like I said, pretty fair result for putting a young heavily inexperienced team in a tournament against full internationals and their abilities vis a vis them.

 

That was an assessment and not a value judgement, ergo what followed it:

 

I'm tempted to say not bad for their age and deservedly, but it's the senior team so that would be disingenuous and disrespectful in another way.

 

I'm not happy or unhappy.  I'm not even emotional about it.  We couldn't send our A team so it was either don't go or send an alternate team.  So we sent in the rookies.  It was nice to see new faces.  Sure some scary stuff but some nice play every now and then too.

 

And there's no failure on the players. They're the one's who've all spent ten thousand hours and tens of thousands of dollars to get to where they are and they get on the field and work their asses off.

 

I've said forever that women's soccer in Canada is 23 players and the great unwashed.  In terms of our funding, attention and focus.  Nothing else exists.  And when that 23 aren't available and the hand was forced and they went young instead is it really surprising?

 

We've been addicted to our ranking for a long time.  We hire coaches and give them a wallet and subliminally they know that ranking is the job interview for their next job.  The women's game has exploded in Canada and we're one of the early adopters yet our opportunities for women to take the game seriously beyond the national team do not exist.  No one has watered the garden, no one has done the hard work of ensuring we have something for talented girls to continue to develop after the mid-teen years.  They disappear into the ether on a daily basis.  

 

We need a board willing to admit we have failed and a women's program head who is responsible for our national team AND developing the game here who's ruthless and willing to make the hard decisions in terms of funding and catching up on decades of neglect and looking the other way.

[Trillium]

Here is a simple idea for the CSA.....

 

Take a squad of "B" team National Players and have them play ten to twenty games next summer in 2016, accross Canada against .... Regional women's team selections.

 

Purpose, one to give "B" team players a full summer three to four months of competitive play, before getting them spots in Europe for the winter.

 

Purpose, two, to give Regional Area's chance to showcase their best female players against the national team programs selection process.

 

At the end of the series, draw in 18 of the Regional players to train together for a week under national level coaches then have them play added games versus the "B" team, thus essentially having run a summer long Open Accross Canada tryout with a wrap up training for best new talents versus current "B" talents.

 

Don't even bother arguing cost, game receipts would cover much of the cost, and a national presenting sponsor for for the series could be found.... to fund the presentation costs and market the games.

 

Play in 5000 seat stadia with ten dollar tickets.

 

Victoria, Lower Mainland,  Interior BC ( Kamloops ?), Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Windsor, London, Barrie,  Kingston, Ottawa, Gatineau, Laval, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Moncton, Halifax, St. Johns

 

Get Shopify or another Canadian High Tech to sponsor the streaming of the games.

 

Twenty sell outs at 50k plus merchandise is over a million in revenue.

 

Pay the "B" team players $600.00 per week plus expenses for twenty weeks. Pay the "new talents" identified $600 week plus expenses for wrap up training.

 

Have regional selectors run open / invite tryouts and training to prepare players accross the country.

 

Solves Vic's and CSA fear of open tryouts, yet gets you open tryouts, bench marks regional players against next best in Canada, should regional players consistently do well versus the "B" squad, begin adjusting who is in "B" squad, releasing players as necessary, and picking up new ones for the tour.

 

When next "A" camp is held run a "B" camp and have "A" versus "B" game in one of the tour cities.

 

Make it a meritocracy, where players are consistently challeged to produce or be replaced.

[ThruBall]

An open system, unfettered pathway to the National Team ...... Why not?

https://girlscansocceradventures.wordpress.com/

The two tiered model in existence today, Provincial - National, is flat out broken. It's waist full of precious financial resources, serves personal agendas, an blocks real soccer progress for Canada.

The next reform issue at the National Level, now that the board is changing, will be the shaping of responsibilities for Provincial Bodies. The current structure is out of date.

Open Tryouts is the first step. Real national player development progress can follow.

When Provincial Bodies are using financial resources off house league registrations to protect their jobs at the expense of private investment into grass roots player development; the model has reached its useful life. Providing Provincial bodies with an exclusive territorial seat at the table of player development has only lead to fence building and bullying with in the local soccer communities. It's a big problem in Canada. It is the single biggest reason the National program is failing.

Where exactly will the WNT WC profits be invested in the Canadian game? Does anybody know?

There is no role with in the CSA to spot private soccer development opportunities in Canada. BC, Ontario and Quebec all have seasoned private development communities up and running with 10 years + of experience. Thousands of elite athletes focused on soccer as their first sport receiving development instruction from certified, accredited licensed coaches. Not a nickel of WC $ will flow toward this pool of players.

Unfettered access to the National Teams "around the provinces" will yield new shining stars......

[red card]

Good blog post from Life as a Female Soccer Player. We live in a big country but our thinking across the board is quite parochial.

 

 

Another good read is interview with Worthington post Pan Am. I have complained previously that the Canadian media isn't very good at doing quality football journalism by addressing all the structural flaws created by dysfunctional people running the sport from the puppy mill oriented youth clubs to the bureaucratic-minded incompetent boobs running the provincial associations. But this piece provides some interesting insight.

 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/canada-womens-team-pan-am-games-olympics-daniel-worthington/   

[The Ref]

Good blog post from Life as a Female Soccer Player. We live in a big country but our thinking across the board is quite parochial.

 

 

Another good read is interview with Worthington post Pan Am. I have complained previously that the Canadian media isn't very good at doing quality football journalism by addressing all the structural flaws created by dysfunctional people running the sport from the puppy mill oriented youth clubs to the bureaucratic-minded incompetent boobs running the provincial associations. But this piece provides some interesting insight.

 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/canada-womens-team-pan-am-games-olympics-daniel-worthington/   

Is Worthington really the coach? he sounds more like a layman observer.  No wonder we sucked.

[Vic]

"Before Mexico we said, “We cannot waste these chances that we have,” but it all comes back to process. Are we playing the right way? Are we living our strategy? Are we producing final acts? "

 

I'm sorry but what we were doing in that game over and over and trying to win with failed to appreciate the level of play women (let alone at this age/calibre) are capable of.  Premier League tactics don't work in women's football.  I hope they read that statement 100 times until it gets in their DNA.  We were attacking in a low percentage way.

 

"It’ll be getting down to nailing down the curriculum over a six-year cycle with Bev Priestman (Women’s EXCEL Program U-14/U-17 Director)."

 

Which essentially means another private club system and we have learned nothing.  Great players come and go.  Talents rise and fall.  Some players stand still for years or even go backwards, others burn through levels up in a year.  A national team needs to be the best players available at the time.  Not those in a six-year incubator.  Not young players, not old players, not players who have been around.  The best players available at that time.  Anything less is disrespectful to the women who play the game.

[Vic]

An open system, unfettered pathway to the National Team ...... Why not?

https://girlscansocceradventures.wordpress.com/

 

 

I said it before many times.  The CSA needs to hire her to get started in developing the women's game.  Whatever it costs you couldn't spend better money.

[The Ref]

It is rewarding reading several postings favoring open tryouts around the provinces.  Will the CSA ever abolish the elite "by invitation only" ID camps ran by elite politicians not coaches, is yet to be seen.  Good young players and good teachers are out there, we need to get them both together.

[ThruBall]

The more the CSA walks the talks, the more convinced they become in their own beliefs.

A "win" based on reaching an objective of "# crosses" in a game doesn't equate to a soccer win; didn't yield a single goal.

There won't be any answers in the data afterwards either; the data will simply confirm the result, " possession time + #crosses = loss.

Canada needs a tournament strategy first; a player development strategy second, finding the right personnel to look after the whole program third - once there is a program to manage. Simply monitoring the eligible U20 players already identified is a waist of time and resources. Without a broad based player identification program from coast to coast, the cupboard will be bare come tournament time, Camps have limited competition, and what will our soccer $ amount too - accommodations, meals, travel, and wages.

Open tryouts is a consistent and respectful way to efficiently and cost effectively harvest the fruits of the Canadian Soccer Community. Any coach can build their credibility and any player will have a direct pathway to the NT.

It's simply.

Let's stop waiting to win!