You also have a club system in men's amateur soccer (locally) that is not amateur and does not breed loyalty....with a few notable exceptions ( Columbus, Inter, Richmond, SU, Westside, West Van etc). If talented kids go to teams where they get a couple of hundred bucks a week to put up their nose or buy earrings how is that ever going to help men's soccer in this country? There is something drastically wrong with the leadership and I am doubtful that it can be fixed.
How can we talk about loyalty when some teams/clubs charge their players (I am talking here about VMSL) $200-$400 (registration fee, to pay for refs, booking fields, etc.) while some teams do not charge a single cent (fees are covered by sponsors)?
When you have a young guy (who happens to be also a very good player and a chance to choose), student, unemployed, whatever the reason (every single dollar counts) and he is asked to pay $400 for team fees and then there is another team that does not charge a cent (or maybe even gives him a few dollars) do we blame him for going to play for a team that is not charging him!?
We are talking constantly about a need for some kind of semi-pro Canadian soccer league although we know that it cannot exist without private money (and sponsors) yet, when a local player moves to another team (either to avoid paying team's fees or to make a few dollars), we question his loyalty.
I have been saying for a long time that the key (to start with) is the number of players any team (Premier and Division 1, first of all) can register. By not allowing some teams to register 35,40 or even more players the quality will be spread throughout the league. Managers and coaches will pay more attention to players who they really want to be on a team. The team will easier manage the budget (and approach sponsors).