BuzzAndSting Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Wasn't there a timeframe given? Like July or August more details would come out, they said? Can't remember. I get the impatience though. It's like waiting for Christmas. I think the announcements were said to be happening around Christmas! I thought it was late 2015-early 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Maybe better to alert us when Stephen Brunt is writing an article about it in the Globe and Mail or something like that. Then it might be worth taking seriously. Maybe better to not make useless posts and act like a dick. He's just providing a link to a podcast where the league is being discussed. It's relevant information. You on the other hand added nothing to the proceedings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Yeah, we definitely need a second source on this alleged league. Shouldn't someone else be reporting on it by now given how many people need to be involved in the planning and logistics of the league that's only a year and a half away? We only had about six months notice on the Canadian USL expansion but that involved existing clubs moving into an existing league. Given how secretive Bob Young is being about the whole thing, the people involved are obviously keeping things air tight. I think it's a good sign. It seems like a lot of careful planning is going into this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt-MTL Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Given how secretive Bob Young is being about the whole thing, the people involved are obviously keeping things air tight. I think it's a good sign. It seems like a lot of careful planning is going into this. Either that or things are still very preliminary/speculative at this stage and nobody wants to jump the gun... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub Narcotic Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 The Whitecaps also announced a major development partnership with FC Regina last month, indicating that they are not waiting to partner with a senior club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Is FC Regina the be all and end all of youth/amateur clubs in Regina? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub Narcotic Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The biggest one according to the news release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The biggest one according to the news release. Okay. Clearly any entity that wants to bring pro soccer to Regina should quit now considering this club has now aligned itself with the Caps. The fight would clearly be too difficult to endure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmonte Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Was talking with Tuscan...if he sees this, I'll leave the onus on him to explain further, but the partnership does not seem to be about bringing pro soccer to Regina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Was talking with Tuscan...if he sees this, I'll leave the onus on him to explain further, but the partnership does not seem to be about bringing pro soccer to Regina. I know. I was just being mildly douchey and sarcastic with Dub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 According to Duane Rollins a similar partnership will soon be announced in London, Ontario: http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/index.php?/page/articles.html/_/24th-minute/whitecaps-partner-with-ontario-youth-club-to-start-affiliate-team-to-operate-outside-of-osas-preferred-elite-development-pathway-r5318 Moves like this are about finding the best players across the country for the Whitecaps Academy program. People need to stop pretending that MLS isn't an integral part of pro player development in Canada. TFC have not taken as much of an interest as they might have on what happens beyond the Niagara Escarpment and have very much focused on the GTA, so it's good to see one of the other MLS teams doing this sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrock Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The regions are assigned to the teams by MLS. TFC having a relatively small region is because that's were the majority of soccer-players are in the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Think you'll find that the rest of Ontario is a neutral zone that TFC can operate in as well if they want to and the Whitecaps exclusive zone is only in western Canada. Have zero problem with any of the three MLS teams setting up shop in the London area. The population within a reasonable driving time of London is comparable to that of Saskatchewan or any of the Atlantic provinces and there is a relatively strong soccer culture, so it was a void that was going to get filled by somebody else sooner or later if TFC were caught asleep at the switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Is FC Regina the be all and end all of youth/amateur clubs in Regina? FC Regina is a new club started recently from an amalgamation of several existing clubs in Regina. Technical Director is former CMNT player Kevin Holness. I've been trying to get in touch with Kevin to get his insight in an interview but haven't been able to yet as he's notoriously busy. If a PDL team were ever to be started in Regina, it would most likely be a result of adding it to the top of the FCR pyramid. For anything more ambitious (USL or Can1A) it's much more likely to be a partnership with the Riders. IMHO neither are terribly likely soon, but who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 @BBTB Nobody is pretending MLS isn't an integral part of player development in Canada. Most people here just want to see more pro teams across Canada and subsequently more pro opportunities given to Canadians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrock Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Think you'll find that the rest of Ontario is a neutral zone that TFC can operate in as well if they want to and the Whitecaps exclusive zone is only in western Canada. Have zero problem with any of the three MLS teams setting up shop in the London area. The population within a reasonable driving time of London is comparable to that of Saskatchewan or any of the Atlantic provinces and there is a relatively strong soccer culture, so it was a void that was going to get filled by somebody else sooner or later if TFC were caught asleep at the switch. Ok but why would TFC need an affiliated club in their backyard? For the Caps that would make sense cause they're miles away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 London isn't exactly the GTA's backyard. In ideal driving conditions it takes about 2 hours one way (legally before anyone tells us that they have done it faster, yes I know) and you usually hit heavy traffic in rush hour that slows things down from that. Not something you can comfortably do in a round trip for daily training sessions and in public transport terms London is also well outside the Go train and bus service area to Union Station. That limits the participation by London area athletes in anything like provincial soccer programs that are organized centrally in Toronto. TFC's smaller zone of operations is pretty much the realistic limit for players living at home going to TFC's Downsview training centre. Maybe they see a catchment of 8 million or so as sufficient for their needs and think they can afford to largely ignore what lies beyond (which has been the typical GTA mentality in soccer over the years), but if the Whitecaps partner up with North London and possibly the FC London PDL team, they could easily be the ones who will find the next CMNT regular from the London area like Jason Devos to justify the expense and effort put into an affiliated training centre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 ...or TFC scout the London area and invite any exceptional talent that they find to join TFC Academy and billet with a family? Seems a little easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 That will no doubt be the mentality at TFC, but in an era when academies start at U12 it's not quite the same as the junior hockey scenario. The Whitecaps will also no doubt be planning on moving the most exceptional players to BC in the upper age ranges, but they'll have their foot in the door in recruitment terms by having been involved at an earlier age than that at the various regional centres they are helping to operate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 That will no doubt be the mentality at TFC, but in an era when academies start at U12 it's not quite the same as the junior hockey scenario. The Whitecaps will also no doubt be planning on moving the most exceptional players to BC in the upper age ranges, but they'll have their foot in the door in recruitment terms by having been involved at an earlier age than that at the various regional centres they are helping to operate. TFC host the Danone Cup selection camp every year for the top 12 year olds, so no doubt they will have an opportunity to have their eyes caught by any hotshot kids from London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Right, I understand that's the typical GTA mentality and that TFC will think that they have been doing enough. The Whitecaps are trying something different with a deeper level of engagement that is more likely to fit the needs of people in smaller cities like Regina and London. I suspect the latter approach will work a lot better in player development terms, so the only question will be whether the reward ultimately makes the extra effort involved worthwhile in terms of players making it all the way through to the first team. Meanwhile, from what I see elsewhere from people who are not just members of fan groups but actually know the game inside out from direct participation and having had children playing elite youth soccer (e.g. denime on the RPB board), TFC have not even been doing an efficient job of getting the best youth players from inside the GTA to sign up for them. Hopefully, now the initial MLSE ticket salesmen leadership like Anselmi and Beirne have been replaced by people with a better understanding of the sport things have been improving in that regard, so that the investment made at Downsview (that the initial leadership very much does deserve credit for) is used to its full potential. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub Narcotic Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 New rumour/news from Duane Rollins: - League starts in 2017. - Eight markets, including Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver. Big name owners. - 3M cap/budget per team. - 70% Canadian content. http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/index.php?/page/articles.html/_/24th-minute/canadian-league-update-oh-and-floro-talks-gold-cup-sort-of-r5340 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazlo_80 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 exciting to hear more details about all this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An Observer Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 70% CDN content from the start doesn't make sense to me as we don't have 100 professional quality soccer players in the country which this would require with 18 player roster sizes and 8 teams. I prefer what the Hamiltion spokesman said a year or so ago. Start with 1 or 2 starters that are Canadian and then build from there as the talent increases. Even if you only had 1 starter per sid that was Canadian to begin, that would add 8 professional players (plus obviously some of the subs). Even starting with 15 to 20 players that play somewhat regularly would be a big difference in my opinion to our player pool (and all that it could currently sustain). I appreciate the fact that they want to start in the 3 major markets but going up against the MLS sides may not be wise. I can see Toronto supporting another side, Montreal and/or Vancouver are definitely more of a challenge. Of course, unless we are talking the 3 USL sides playing in this league but then its definitely not Division 1A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 We all knew Toronto was going to be one of the cities, but Vancouver and Montreal to? Interesting. Where does everyone think the other 5 clubs will be located? Hamilton is the obvious one. Winnipeg and Regina being the others with CFL involvement. Calgary with the NHL/CFL angle....and Quebec City to round this thing off to eight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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