No Canada...

[johnnybluenose]

Pretty good article by Marc Weber of the Province.
No Canada: What will it take for us to get back to a World Cup?

 

[number10hamburgler]

I think those are really good points mentioned. The MLS teams will really help out and get the everyone wanting to play and train to make those teams. But a good feeder system is required as well. Possibly an expansion of the Canadian Soccer League Canadian Soccer League Powered by Goalline Sports Administration Software to add Pacific, Western and Eastern Divsions might help along with a unification of local leagues into one provincial league. Anyways, hopefully CSA and everyone else start to see that as well as the MLS starts to take off in Canada.

 

[bergamascho]

The single most important thing BC can do to contribute is to organize a legitmate province wide Premier league incorporating the best teams from the VMSL, the VISL, and the FVSL...ehhhhh nevermind!!!

 

[mikey_c_9]

"The game needs an overhaul," says Vancouver Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi. "The administrators, the coaches, all need to step away from it and analyze what we've been doing and change what we've been doing.

"Right now there's people on the CSA board, half of them don't even know the game very well, and they're not accountable,"

Damnright.

 

[Sliver]

Maybe we need more of the Dutch model.

How a Soccer Star Is Made - NYTimes.com

 

[mikey_c_9]

Yeah they have had the best youth setup for a long time.

 

[johnnybluenose]

Sliver, that is an excellent find and a great read!

Unfortunately that is exactly what happens with Hockey in this country, and the part of the problem here, along with a lack of a model for development, is that the best natural athletes often leave Soccer for Hockey, Baseball, and throwball, and now guys are also taking up MMA.

 

[Sliver]

This probably applies to Canada as well.

Americans place a higher value on competition than on practice, so the balance between games and practice in the U.S. is skewed when compared with the rest of the world. It’s not unusual for a teenager in the U.S. to play 100 or more games in a season, for two or three different teams, leaving little time for training and little energy for it in the infrequent moments it occurs. A result is that the development of our best players is stunted. They tend to be fast and passionate but underskilled and lacking in savvy compared with players elsewhere. “As soon as a kid here starts playing, he’s got referees on the field and parents watching in lawn chairs,”

 

[bergamascho]

That was by far the most interesting soccer read I have laid eyes on. Many thanks Silver!

 

[Tuna]

Everyone draws the line somewhere. Jennings told me that he recently received a call from a rival club asking if it could schedule a game against his “elite 5s” — 5-year-olds. He replied, “We don’t have elite 5s, but we’ll play your expectant mothers.”

Love it, great article.

 

[Regs]

Awesome, very enjoyable reading and brings back memories of being a kid and just wanting to play all the time.

Our youth sports leagues, for the most part, are community-based and run by volunteers rather than professionals. They have grown organically, sending out tendrils that run deep and are difficult to uproot. Change at the elite levels is more possible than at the stubborn grass roots.

This.

 

[Dude]

You nailed it Regs. Some of my fondest memories go back to between 12-15, when we played and trained all the time. Summers spent riding my bike to soccer school, practice, or games, always with a ball in the bag.

Good times. No, the best of times.

I guess I'll go read that article Sliver posted now...