Lowell Wright

[Obinna]

What are the bonuses I wonder? Wright scoring the winning goal to win CCL next year?

In all seriousness, it's probably earning a first team contract, playing x number of games with the first team, scoring x number of goals, etc. 

Could be good business for York, but otherwise the 50k is basically just replacing his salary (and then some, perhaps). That's not a fee that will transform the club, but it's a step in the right direction. Now, if he hits all the bonuses, the quarter million is definitely substantial. Would cover a nice chunk of the York salaries.  

[jordan]

2 minutes ago, Obinna said:

What are the bonuses I wonder? Wright scoring the winning goal to win CCL next year?

In all seriousness, it's probably earning a first team contract, playing x number of games with the first team, scoring x number of goals, etc. 

Could be good business for York, but otherwise the 50k is basically just replacing his salary (and then some, perhaps). That's not a fee that will transform the club, but it's a step in the right direction. Now, if he hits all the bonuses, the quarter million is definitely substantial. Would cover a nice chunk of the York salaries.  

I wish the fees outgoing were a bit higher, 50k is less than Limniatis’ and Hooper’s transfer out of Ottawa Intrepid. Now it would be nice if the bonuses were hit. 

[maccaliam]

As others have said, it is a great look for the league to have players continuing to move on.
Talented youngsters, who otherwise may not have considered the league, may begin to see the CPL as a good option to help them move on to higher levels. The teams/league get better players and earn transfer fees, and the players can showcase themselves and move up to other leagues. Everyone wins. 

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, maccaliam said:

As others have said, it is a great look for the league to have players continuing to move on.
Talented youngsters, who otherwise may not have considered the league, may begin to see the CPL as a good option to help them move on to higher levels. The teams/league get better players and earn transfer fees, and the players can showcase themselves and move up to other leagues. Everyone wins. 

And to add, so many of those players wouldn't have played professionally, period. Now they not only have the chance to earn a salary, albeit modest, but the dream of actually climbing the professional ladder. 

It's basically like the entry level position which pays shit, but you take it knowing you can put the experience on your resume to get a better job with a better company down the road, one where you can actually earn a living.

That's partially why I am not too fussed about the salaries. Yes, of course it would be better if they were doubled, at minimum, but the role of the CPL, at present, is for players to get their preverbal foot in the door. From there, it's up to them, may the cream rise to the crop, etc. 

We have already seen players like Chung, McNaughton, and Waterman double their salaries or better, as a result of their moves from CPL. So, it's already working.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Obinna

[narduch]

2 hours ago, jordan said:

I wish the fees outgoing were a bit higher, 50k is less than Limniatis’ and Hooper’s transfer out of Ottawa Intrepid. Now it would be nice if the bonuses were hit. 

Its only been a few years now that MLS teams even ever considered paying transfer fees for lower level North American based players.

[Aird25]

Perhaps the least interesting move he could have made

[Kent]

The other nice thing if he hits his bonus targets, is that the guys after him to transfer out of the league might command bigger transfer fees. Each CPL export success provides more confidence in the next players that come out of the league.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

On 8/3/2022 at 10:23 PM, jordan said:

I wish the fees outgoing were a bit higher, 50k is less than Limniatis’ and Hooper’s transfer out of Ottawa Intrepid... 

That was before Jean-Marc Bosman. Think part of the problem for CanPL is they can't be seen to stand in a player's way where future recruitment is concerned, so that limits their leverage even when a multiyear contract and the awkward optics of CanPL -> MLS NextPro -> MLS are involved.

Edited August 9, 2022 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[InglewoodJack]

Does anyone know the performance incentives? Like it's been mentioned, it could be some very basic things like make the first team, play X games, ie basically an insurance policy for the whitecaps if he never makes it. I've seen some contracts where the "performance incentives" are basically like, don't exceed a certain weight, play more than 45% of the season, etc.

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Does anyone know the performance incentives? Like it's been mentioned, it could be some very basic things like make the first team, play X games, ie basically an insurance policy for the whitecaps if he never makes it. I've seen some contracts where the "performance incentives" are basically like, don't exceed a certain weight, play more than 45% of the season, etc.

MLS could see bonuses, even modest, for:

% of matches played

% of minutes

goals

assists

Making All-Star, Best season XI

Team:

Win bonuses

Conference champ or Supporter's Shield, divided amongst players

Playoff wins/rounds, all the way up to winning the championship

There are even minor bonuses for exhibition games, marquee friendlies

Then Concacaf matches if they are qualified.

Would imagine there are Canadian Championship bonuses as well.

 

This is what you might see on a contract, I think a lot of it is standard. Then there could be exceptions. He's on a Next Pro contract so he may have specific clauses for call-ups to the first team, minutes, starts, etc.

[red card]

Lowell writes for CBC "Why my hometown churns out soccer stars"

‘What is it about Brampton?’ There’s a multitude of answers. Maybe it’s the migration of certain families from other pockets of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Maybe it’s a celebration of the roots and traditions that anchor those families, and reminds them of who they are and where they come from. Maybe it’s the importance of connective tissue, and how soccer is such a vibrant, social experience for those families. Personally, I think it’s our culture. If you’re from Brampton, I’d say you’ve got a 25 per cent chance of being a baller.

I get so many requests in my DMs (direct messages) now: ‘Hey, we know you’re a Brampton kid: do you know any other talented young players in the community?’ 

https://www.cbc.ca/playersvoice/entry/why-my-hometown-produces-so-many-soccer-stars

[DeRo_Is_King]

1 hour ago, red card said:

Lowell writes for CBC "Why my hometown churns out soccer stars"

‘What is it about Brampton?’ There’s a multitude of answers. Maybe it’s the migration of certain families from other pockets of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Maybe it’s a celebration of the roots and traditions that anchor those families, and reminds them of who they are and where they come from. Maybe it’s the importance of connective tissue, and how soccer is such a vibrant, social experience for those families. Personally, I think it’s our culture. If you’re from Brampton, I’d say you’ve got a 25 per cent chance of being a baller.

I get so many requests in my DMs (direct messages) now: ‘Hey, we know you’re a Brampton kid: do you know any other talented young players in the community?’ 

https://www.cbc.ca/playersvoice/entry/why-my-hometown-produces-so-many-soccer-stars

Good for Brampton, but I'd like to see a little more diversity tbh. This is a big country, and we've seen smaller provinces produce top talent. 

[InglewoodJack]

The GTA has elite academies that have produced nearly our entire NT. Once we quit playing around and open one up in Quebec and another in BC, we’ll start seeing better diversity. 

[DeRo_Is_King]

48 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

The GTA has elite academies that have produced nearly our entire NT. Once we quit playing around and open one up in Quebec and another in BC, we’ll start seeing better diversity. 

Yeah. The talent is already there. It's just a matter of finding it.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, InglewoodJack said:

The GTA has elite academies that have produced nearly our entire NT.

A very large percentage is still not "nearly our entire" national team.

[jonovision]

^ Indeed. Our best striker (David), winger (Davies), midfielder (Eustaquio), and keeper (Borjan) are not products of the GTA or of elite academies there.

Doesn't change the fact that more elite academies in more places across the country likely means more elite players.

[Bison44]

6 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

A very large percentage is still not "nearly our entire" national team.

Nearly our entire, except, Wotherpsoon, Adekugbe, Kennedy, Piette, Eustaq, Davies, David, Ugbo, Crepeau.....

[red card]

2 hours ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Good for Brampton, but I'd like to see a little more diversity tbh. This is a big country, and we've seen smaller provinces produce top talent. 

There will be one off talents in in the smaller provinces but it won't be consistent till various things are in place. 

As Wright said, you need the "culture". You need the "connective tissue" of coaches & youth club management who played the sport or grew up where football permeates the everyday environment, you need a good breadth of football first facilities for summer to winter usage and you need to face good competition regularly. Vancouver area was probably the first place to have many of this but for various reasons, they have fallen off the cliff on the men's side. 

Provincewise, only 4 provinces regularly have produced players for the men and women's national teams in this century: ON, BC, AB & QC. There is more not fully developed and/or unidentified talent in these 4 provinces than there untapped talent in the other provinces combined. Having CPL teams in the smaller provinces could close the gap but it will take time. If I recall correctly, only Attardo was from outside the 4 top provinces that kinda took a step up from CPL.

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by red card

[InglewoodJack]

21 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

A very large percentage is still not "nearly our entire" national team.

Feel like this is completely missing the point 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

3 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Feel like this is completely missing the point 

I get your point. I just thought your hyperbole wasn't needed in this case.

[Kadenge]

3 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

A very large percentage is still not "nearly our entire" national team.

It would if you expanded GTA to Ontario 🙂

[Bison44]

7 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

It would if you expanded GTA to Ontario 🙂

It was about the elite academies in GTA....not a blanket ontario vs the world statment.  Ie other places need academies like GTA has.  

[Unnamed Trialist]

Most football nations have a diversity of origins and regions making up the pool. But most too have certain regions doing better and others worse.

In Spain players don't come from the larger cities, but from the smaller cities in their metropolitan areas. Then the Basques produce quality in numbers. Canary Islands is poor and lower populated, but produces very high quality players (David Silva, Pedri), often from working farmer families. Galicia has produced little talent and doesn't even seem to be proud of doing so. In general, in Spain football is a mostly lower-middle class and middle class sport. 

If we want things to evolve in Canada, we need elite academies that aren't overpriced, L1 on track in more provinces, then more CPL teams to drive development. All the tiers.

Since we won't get more MLS teams, we have to get CPL to grow in all respects. It's economy as we stand is too weak to help the NT directly. 

Lack of labour reciprocity for Canadians in MLS, a huge drawback. 

I'm sure we'll see BC come back as a talent producer after these 20 years of relative decline. If Quebec had two CPL teams we'd see a real burst I'm sure. 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist

[InglewoodJack]

7 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

I get your point. I just thought your hyperbole wasn't needed in this case.

Point is that a massive portion of our team comes from a very small and specific part of the country because it's our population centre, but also because it has world class institutions with a proven track record of putting guys on the national team, sending them to europe, etc. There are a lot of talented athletes on the west coast and in Quebec (and elsewhere too of course), and I think an investment in growing those markets could pay dividends and is our best bet in sustaining our NT's quality beyond the alphonso davies/JD generation. We're starting to see this in basketball where many of Canada's newest NBA talents are coming from Montreal and BC.

Speaking about Quebec strictly but I'm sure you can apply this to the rest of the country, I'd love to see someone build an academy somewhere rural between Montreal and Quebec, something of a cross between an NCAA D1 school and Clairefontaine where players can be taken from bigger cities and brought into an environment that's 100% training. I think that Quebec's soccer culture is closest to France's IE talent pool comes from new and second generation immigrant families in big city neighbourhoods (france's come from the banlieus, ours comes from ville saint laurent, st michel, etc.) and giving them an opportunity to leave home and getting an elite soccer education could pay dividends. That could even naturally evolve into a similar situation that made the Montreal Canadiens so elite for 70 years- basically every player developed in Quebec naturally gets pushed to the Habs, and so should every elite Quebecker player get their start with CFM, and from there, we start sending players to Europe just like TFC does.

 

France is obviously different, but in the 30 years since Clairefontaine opened, they won 2 world cups, a Euro, produced some of the best players of their generation, and has become one of the most elite NTs in the world. No reason for Canada to not be able to make a similar jump on a smaller scale with investment in elite academies in underserved areas.

[toontownman]

Wonder if we are going to see Lowell back in the CPL and loaned to VFC this year. 

With todays additions VWFC2 is stacked up top:

Amanda, Brienza, Wright, Hanson, Rakic and Levonte Johnson is pretty packed. Becher might be up and down too.