Blue and White Army Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 "The Premier Development League (PDL) Washington Crossfire have apparently had their rights in the league sold to an unknown group in Vancouver, BC." https://goalwashington.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/washington-crossfire-pdl-rights-reportedly-sold-to-group-in-vancouver-bc/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shermanator Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 If this does come to fruition, what I would like to see is the Canadian group of PDL clubs break off and form a Western Canadian high performance league. There could be good motivation for FC Edmonton Academy join them. I think there could be a good case for a WCHPL league with Victoria Highlanders, Calgary Foothills, WSA Winnipeg, Thunder Bay Chill and potentially Vancouver PDL / FC Edmonton. Travel costs would be high, but it can't be much more than Calgary Foothills are already paying, as they have been paying for visiting team's flights as a condition of their entry into PDL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zem Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 7 minutes ago, shermanator said: If this does come to fruition, what I would like to see is the Canadian group of PDL clubs break off and form a Western Canadian high performance league. There could be good motivation for FC Edmonton Academy join them. I think there could be a good case for a WCHPL league with Victoria Highlanders, Calgary Foothills, WSA Winnipeg, Thunder Bay Chill and potentially Vancouver PDL / FC Edmonton. Travel costs would be high, but it can't be much more than Calgary Foothills are already paying, as they have been paying for visiting team's flights as a condition of their entry into PDL. I get the impression the desperately needed Canadian elite academy system might be on the way with the CPL and what Jason de Vos has been preaching (we need to get all of the country's best young players competing against one another), we might finally see our pro academies playing against other top academies rather than senior semi-pro or local amateur clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rintaran Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 I was hoping for a BCL1, but I can easily "settle" for a WCL1. Would love to see more Canadian teams & academies going head to head at a high-performance level. At the very least, if there is a new Vancouver PDL-team, it'll give the Highlanders a new BC-derby. Great news in my books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 What I find interesting is that the owner is TSS Academy and they will play out of Swangard - according to a trusted source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue and White Army Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 This was confirmed a few weeks back. The PDL schedule should be out later this month (February 2017). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopherbashi Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 http://www.uslpdl.com/news_article/show/755835?referrer_id=2242498 PDL announced their conference alignment. No real surprises from the Canadian perspective (apart from a West Virginia team being part of the "Great Lakes" division). Also, confirmation that TFC Academy will not be competing in PDL this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Ok, just read that article from NSXI, gives a decent but partial overview: http://www.northernstartingeleven.com/vancouvers-pdl-team-tss-fc-rovers/ Say they needed a closed stadium with possibility to charge, and Swangard had dates open this spring to fit in a PDL schedule. For them Swangard gives them a prestige association. The guys pushing it forwards are former UBC players, TSS academy in Richmond I guess is using the project to promote the academy and think about offering something to their players after leaving. From what I understand TSS takes kids up to 1st year university, so there is a bit of a gap they admit there between leaving TSS and walking into the PDL team. But they claim they want to work towards that goal. TSS is not part of the BC High Performance system. Here you have to wonder how this works, you have 8 HP teams, many of which are either fusions of clubs in the area, or are fed by a broad base of clubs in the area. TSS is not one, so who do they play to stay competitive? Wouldn't it make more sense to have two tiers of HP, and have clubs fight for promotion and avoid relegation? They are going to sign some players with PDL experience, I suspect with university soccer backgrounds. But they also say there may be some names known, so perhaps some more experienced vets. No explanation of the name, that will make it hard to sell the team IMHO. I find the name pretty bad. Very few PDL teams do not have a name associated clearly with a place. They don't say if they'll have a Southside or bleachers close to the play. As they are unlikely to draw more than 3-400, that crowd will be lost if they don't provide an incentive for fans to be grouped together. And a supporter's section as well (something the WC USL team is lacking at Thunderbird stadium, a behind the goal grandstand for a 150 fans. I am not sure they have fully calibrated why Swangard worked back in the day (and even then...) Edit: I'll go but hey, I'll watch anything and regularly do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Schedules, they open at home on Friday May 12, seven home games. Most matches on Fridays at 7pm except the last two, including a Sunday vs. Victoria, June 25th. One, the last on July 12th, a Wednesday, coincides with a WFC2 match to be held in Langley. I think you are competing for crowds, even though PDL is lower the venue is superior, and in a more central location for Vancouver fans. Will TSS, being a private academy, be able to convince other rival academies to have their kids come out to watch? If they can't, if they are seen as too partisan and not broad-based, they'll fail IMO. They have to come out saying they want to be a destination for emerging players from across the Lower Mainland, not just their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuscan Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Colin Elmes and Will Cromack are leading things for TSS. There's past history between BC Soccer and TSS so I'm not surprised they aren't part of the new BC HP make up. Colin or Will are probably going to DM me on Twitter now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDNFootballer Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 New website launched : http://www.tssrovers.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 The website mentions standing at pitch level or sitting in covered stands. So no Southside grandstand? No proper supporter section close to the field? Think they should think a bit, even the stand that used to be at the Southside was makeshift, nothing special at all. I mean, it hardly costs a thing and it gets you a lot IMO, even if it is 18 fans chanting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 21 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said: So no Southside grandstand? No proper supporter section close to the field? The Southside never had a stand did it? I remember some crappy portable bleachers on which everyone stood, "at pitch level", but Swangard never had a grandstand at the end(s) that I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 12 hours ago, ted said: The Southside never had a stand did it? I remember some crappy portable bleachers on which everyone stood, "at pitch level", but Swangard never had a grandstand at the end(s) that I recall. Oh yeah, I guess I am talking about that, a little porta-bleacher for about 40 people, maybe 5-6 rows maximum. Others would be better at remembering when it was there and when it was not. But just with that you are talking, the feel changes entirely. Then you'd have about another 60-80 along the end line behind the goal, no more than 2 rows deep. I remember in Victoria at Royal Ath Park there was a mini bleacher similar on the east side behind the goal, the contrast between the seated mass and the few back there was even greater. But even with the distance, and the contrast, it gives you a whole different feel. Thunderbird stadium could really use one if the Caps II stay there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shermanator Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Given the struggles of the Whitecaps, it looks like TSS Rovers might be launching at the perfect time. Combine Whitecaps supporters' discontent with games at Swangard and they could draw well this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shway Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Wtf does the TSS stand for? Can't find it anywhere. Reading up on this, it feels like a massive missed opportunity from a marketing standpoint. Why not Burnaby Tide, or Torrent, or even Burnaby Rovers? Their logo looks like a performance training company. If they wanted people to know who the parent company was, they should have just taken the sponsor space on the front ala Edmonton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 5 hours ago, Jahinho Guerro said: Wtf does the TSS stand for? Can't find it anywhere. Reading up on this, it feels like a massive missed opportunity from a marketing standpoint. Why not Burnaby Tide, or Torrent, or even Burnaby Rovers? Their logo looks like a performance training company. If they wanted people to know who the parent company was, they should have just taken the sponsor space on the front ala Edmonton. Total Soccer Systems I believe, and it is not so much a parent company as a private academy that the PDL squad is attached to. Here's our interview with two of the TSS guys about their new PDL squad. http://www.rednationonline.ca/Podcasts2015/FromtheBlackHoleEpisode93.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 It used to be that the second "S" was "Solutions". But they may have had a name change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shermanator Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I choose to believe that TSS stands for Total Shit Soccer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 10 minutes ago, ted said: It used to be that the second "S" was "Solutions". But they may have had a name change. Actually I think you're right Ted. I have it wrong. I thought it looked a bit off when I typed it. In a random bit of info, I'm playing in Regina in WCP Cup and found out we have a mutual acquaintance. A teammate of mine named John hung out with you and the Lakeside Buoys a few years back. Went to a Highlanders game and also the Highland Games with you apparently. Really enjoyed himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smiddy Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Anyone here know who is involved in their supporters group the Swanguardians? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 21 hours ago, smiddy said: Anyone here know who is involved in their supporters group the Swanguardians? They have a supporters group? If someone is in contact they need to contact us about the Juan de Fuca Plate if they want to help us run it this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shermanator Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 I would also love to be in contact with them, as us Foothills supporters are looking into our first road trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieeatworld Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 https://twitter.com/swanguardians theswanguardians@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ClaytonA Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Re. the Rovers name, while generic globally, does have some long history in the Lower Mainland; https://web.archive.org/web/20170409223254/https://groundhoppingca.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/lamenting-the-demise-of-sapperton-rovers-or-how-to-piss-away-a-century-of-canadian-football-history/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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