A Modest Idea

[matty]

Who should I tag for assistance on getting this idea some real traction?

[Juan]

8 hours ago, harrycoyster said:

Players of all other sports are only allowed to accept food, housing, or sports equipment as a result of a competing in an athletic competition. 

$500 steak dinner plus plaque it is.

 

Can they accept vacation or gift cards?

[Big_M]

Get them a couple of pairs of soccer shoes

[harrycoyster]

6 minutes ago, Juan said:

$500 steak dinner plus plaque it is.

 

Can they accept vacation or gift cards?

No. Gift cards are considered currency. Not sure what you mean by vacation, but you definitely shouldn't pay for a player's plane ticket unless it's to a sporting event he player is going to play in...and even that might not be allowed. I'm don't work in eligibility, so I'm not aware of all the nuances. Big D1 NCAA schools usually have at least two full-time eligibility managers, which tells you how complicated it is. 

Up until very recently schools weren't allowed to give buttered bagels or PB&J sandwiches to student-athletes because the NCAA stipulated that they weren't allowed to receive "prepared food", only unprepared food. So we could give kids bagels, knives and cream cheese or bread, peanut butter and jelly, but we weren't allowed to put the ingredients together for them. 

[Gopherbashi]

Can we straight-up give them gold?

[matty]

What does the NCAA think of bitcoin?

[Gopherbashi]

I'm gonna guess no to both of those.

Any thoughts on a CPL award design?

[matty]

14 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said:

Any thoughts on a CPL award design?

I was thinking standard plaque with ALL CPL SGs logos on it under the winners info.

[Gopherbashi]

5 hours ago, matty said:

I was thinking standard plaque with ALL CPL SGs logos on it under the winners info.

Is a new one given out every year, or do we re-use the same one?

If the former, that would add to recurring costs.  If the latter, how to account for changing SGs?

[matty]

1 hour ago, Gopherbashi said:

Is a new one given out every year, or do we re-use the same one?

If the former, that would add to recurring costs.  If the latter, how to account for changing SGs?

I'm thinking new one, produced in the city the player plays in, makes the most sense.

[Red Renaissance]

Wouldnt said NCAA player also be barred from playing professionally to begin with? Meaning that NCAA and CanPL would be 2 seperate routes meaning that anyone playing in CPL eligble for the prize not be playing in NCAA to begin with?

[matty]

12 minutes ago, Red Renaissance said:

Wouldnt said NCAA player also be barred from playing professionally to begin with? Meaning that NCAA and CanPL would be 2 seperate routes meaning that anyone playing in CPL eligble for the prize not be playing in NCAA to begin with?

The NCAA stuff was about L1O and PSLQ, the CPL award wouldn't worry about NCAA

[harrycoyster]

4 minutes ago, Red Renaissance said:

Wouldnt said NCAA player also be barred from playing professionally to begin with? Meaning that NCAA and CanPL would be 2 seperate routes meaning that anyone playing in CPL eligble for the prize not be playing in NCAA to begin with?

Yes, my NCAA points were about giving a prize to a players in L1O/PDL etc. If the CPL is fully professional with a minimum salary, anybody on a roster loses NCAA eligibility.

[Gopherbashi]

43 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

Yes, my NCAA points were about giving a prize to a players in L1O/PDL etc. If the CPL is fully professional with a minimum salary, anybody on a roster loses NCAA eligibility.

Can NCAA players play alongside professionals so long as they aren't being paid themselves? (ie. if the league doesn't turn out to be fully professional)

I'm not entirely convinced that we won't see some "amateur tryout" status as people eventually try and cut corners.

[harrycoyster]

2 hours ago, Gopherbashi said:

Can NCAA players play alongside professionals so long as they aren't being paid themselves? (ie. if the league doesn't turn out to be fully professional)

I'm not entirely convinced that we won't see some "amateur tryout" status as people eventually try and cut corners.

The USL allowed players to forgo a salary to maintain their amateur status in their 1st year of existence, but dropped the rule to meet US Soccer's Division 3 standards. The USL PDL currently has a very meager stipend that almost all players reject it to maintain NCAA eligibility.

So, yes, NCAA players can play alongside full professionals if they deny payment and league doesn't set a minimum salary standard (Jordan Morris playing for the USMNT while still at Stanford is a recent example), but it isn't a great look for a league to have and is wrought with potential NCAA eligibility violations.

[ReedOnTheGrand]

On 6/25/2017 at 0:37 PM, Gopherbashi said:

I'm gonna guess no to both of those.

Any thoughts on a CPL award design?

Keep it simple yet elegant, maybe

voyageur's player of the year 20XX

"Insert player name"

Red maple leaf - Player's team logo

Then maybe the supporters groups of his team.

 

[matty]

3 hours ago, ReedOnTheGrand said:

Keep it simple yet elegant, maybe

voyageur's player of the year 20XX

"Insert player name"

Red maple leaf - Player's team logo

Then maybe the supporters groups of his team.

 

Basically what I was thinking. I do think the name needs to involve the word "Voyageurs" to give the league a deeper link to Canadian soccer history

[matty]

So with the league looking like stuff's really about to drop I figured I would bump this thread to see if people would still be on board with this sort of thing. If you don't know what this is about, I pitched an idea for a fan run and funded award where all the SGs and Vs would select the best young Canadian player in the league and the players local SG would organise a presentation of the award and like $500 to the player at the SG's HQ bar. I think it's a good way to give the CPL a little more of a link to the established Canadian soccer world and allow those living outside a CPL market to be directly involved with fan activities.

[MrSabiondo]

I really like this, but don't agree with the U-23 requirement.  

[Kent]

I like this, and do agree with the U-23 requirement. If the CPL gets a player like Teibert, Osorio, or even an aging Atiba Hutchinson one day, it doesn't make much sense to give them a $500 prize, while some 20 year old kid is a bright young prospect just trying to make ends meet and put in a heck of a season gets nothing.

I presume the league will have some sort of MVP award (please make it CFL style Most Outstanding Player award, because I hate the importance to the team argument people make, I'd rather just give it to the best player) and or Top Canadian award. Heck, they might also have a best young Canadian award but a modest cash prize makes most sense to be given to a player that is working for peanuts.

[matty]

1 hour ago, MrSabiondo said:

I really like this, but don't agree with the U-23 requirement.  

Why not if I may ask? I think Kent explains U23 pretty but if you have a different idea lets hear

[toontownman]

Recipient must sign in blood thayt they will represent Canada and not defect. 

Love the idea btw. Great constructive but creative thinking!

I'm not sure the league would ratify it. The criteria and transparency would have to be intense and bulletproof. They would surely want some control in it.

Would it be a complete free reign in voting in terms of nominations, is it based on stats or if would we ask coaches to nominate one or two players per club?

The only worry for me would be to avoid it turning into a popularity contest based on fans supporting the players from their own club rather than the most deserving. If it's a fan based and funded award they should have ownership on it.  Maybe we ask the coaches to vote a bit like the PFA? Either way if the criteria is set up to guide voters to the best player winning that would be a good start. 

[matty]

1 hour ago, toontownman said:

Recipient must sign in blood thayt they will represent Canada and not defect. 

Love the idea btw. Great constructive but creative thinking!

I'm not sure the league would ratify it. The criteria and transparency would have to be intense and bulletproof. They would surely want some control in it.

Would it be a complete free reign in voting in terms of nominations, is it based on stats or if would we ask coaches to nominate one or two players per club?

The only worry for me would be to avoid it turning into a popularity contest based on fans supporting the players from their own club rather than the most deserving. If it's a fan based and funded award they should have ownership on it.  Maybe we ask the coaches to vote a bit like the PFA? Either way if the criteria is set up to guide voters to the best player winning that would be a good start. 

I'd hope the league would allow it as sort of an independent or semi-independent award and give it a blessing.

The way i would see voting is everyone that donates at least $5 to the prize gets ballot with 3 slots and voters must pick their top 3 players unranked (with a rule allowing only one player per team) and the player with the most overall appearances wins. I feel that would prevent one SG from controlling the vote.

Also LOL

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

59 minutes ago, toontownman said:

Recipient must sign in blood thayt they will represent Canada and not defect. 

Love the idea btw. Great constructive but creative thinking!

I'm not sure the league would ratify it. The criteria and transparency would have to be intense and bulletproof. They would surely want some control in it.

Would it be a complete free reign in voting in terms of nominations, is it based on stats or if would we ask coaches to nominate one or two players per club?

The only worry for me would be to avoid it turning into a popularity contest based on fans supporting the players from their own club rather than the most deserving. If it's a fan based and funded award they should have ownership on it.  Maybe we ask the coaches to vote a bit like the PFA? Either way if the criteria is set up to guide voters to the best player winning that would be a good start. 

Maybe have weighted votes for journalists like Sandor? Their votes count 20 or something like that. I feel like their unbiased and “expert” opinion would mean more than ours. Especially since they are likely to watch more different teams and players than the average fan.

[matty]

2 minutes ago, BenFisk'sBiggestFan said:

Maybe have weighted votes for journalists like Sandor? Their votes count 20 or something like that. I feel like their unbiased and “expert” opinion would mean more than ours. Especially since they are likely to watch more different teams and players than the average fan.

thought about that and it's not bad but might change the character of the vote somewhat. i think you would also need to rotate experts too because some do have bias (like Larson).