Premier RUMOUR: Surrey Utd. to FVSL

[dezza]

@Regs
I think @Dude is right about somehow monetizing the development process. It's tricky and a bit of a Pandora's Box, but why would a club (youth or otherwise) devote resources to developing players when the Whitecaps or whoever else can just swoop in at any point and hijack the player? There's no motivation.

I would hope the thousands of dollars being paid by the parents would be enough motivation for club staff to develop the players. Whether we have the right people in place to do that is a whole different topic.

Keep in mind that our model is completely different than that in other parts of the world. Yes, clubs elsewhere get compensated for developing players, but they are also not charging the youth players to be trained. They are developing them in hopes that they will one day represent the club and bring it success or be sold on for profit. The benefit of this is of course open access for everyone based on ability as opposed to financial standing.

So how do we get from our current pay-to-play model to a club compensation based system? I have no idea. Can the two co-exist? We may soon find out as Crossfire in Washington State along with a couple of other club have a pending lawsuit against US Soccer over unpaid compensation.

 

[Sir M]

You crack open the door...

 

[Dude]

So how do we get from our current pay-to-play model to a club compensation based system? I have no idea. Can the two co-exist? We may soon find out as Crossfire in Washington State along with a couple of other club have a pending lawsuit against US Soccer over unpaid compensation.

I've been thinking about that, too.

Obviously it starts with player contracts for the BCPL kids, and of course, there is a whole lot to think about legally, there. Then there is the fact our clubs in BC are not-for-profit, which likely creates another can of worms.

This has to happen, though. If there are now to be several truly professional clubs across the landscape, the feeder system needs to be compensated.

 

[ThiKu]

On the contrary, I'm arguing that development is a moot point in all this.

Developing for what? A crack at playing University? The same opportunity they would have had without the BCPL in place?

This is not to disparage the BCPL, they may very well be producing better players than those that were coming out of Metro previously, but the end result is essentially the same. Sure, a select very few end up in WFC residence, but what we have are, some going to Div. 1, many going to CIS, and a whole bunch ending up in Canadian Colleges.

So, the reality right now is...without a CSL in place, there really is no change in the grand scheme of things.

How this morphed from "Surrey Utd. to FVSL" into "CSL" is beyond me, but it's not my fault.

This is exactly what I've been saying (in other areas). Without a Canadian Prem League the BCSPL serves very little purpose in comparison to what MSL was before.

 

[ThiKu]

I've been thinking about that, too.

Obviously it starts with player contracts for the BCPL kids, and of course, there is a whole lot to think about legally, there. Then there is the fact our clubs in BC are not-for-profit, which likely creates another can of worms.

This has to happen, though. If there are now to be several truly professional clubs across the landscape, the feeder system needs to be compensated.

Would need them at all levels, not just BCSPL. Go look at the Whitecaps u18 roster and specifically the kids from BC. Look how many are not from BCSPL.

 

[ThiKu]

Then there is the fact our clubs in BC are not-for-profit, which likely creates another can of worms.

.

re: NFP - NFP's are allowed to make money. It's what they do with that money that's the concern.

Youth teams should be compensated by Whitecaps. Absolutely.

 

[Dude]

re: NFP - NFP's are allowed to make money. It's what they do with that money that's the concern.

Youth teams should be compensated by Whitecaps. Absolutely.

Correct, but I guess what I'm getting at is that they are largely volunteer run organizations w/ a lot of politics. As a for-profit organization, there is a lot more ability to be agile w/ your operations, and likely, longer long term stability, as it's way easier to burn out volunteers than employees / shareholders. I would think that this would leap forward the competitiveness between clubs, as well as bring into the fold discussions such as selling players on.

For the non-footballing public, this is a difficult conversation to have, because the average parent sees their local football club more as a public community service than as an enterprise.

 

[Canucks4Ever]

For the non-footballing public, this is a difficult conversation to have, because the average parent sees their local football club more as a public community service than as an enterprise.

Love this point. There's no question that because soccer is so accessible and inexpensive at the grassroots level, a decent number of people see it as essentially daycare. So how do we transition this into clubs that can both offer this function as well as develop players? I'm not sure. Or is the answer to have two entirely different streams?

Really I think it all hinges on some form of a CSL (like Floro was saying before he got sacked...not that this thread needs to get into the merits of that decision right or wrong). As I have said before, the largest impediment to this is the costs associated with travelling across our massive country. The revenues from this league will be minor given limited spectator/gate revenue, likely no television contract and minimal advertising dollars. It would probably need to be heavily subsidized, but by whom?

That being said I do not believe this is impossible. It just requires some creativity, vision and leadership.

 

[Regs]

It would probably need to be heavily subsidized, but by whom?

This guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Young_(businessman)

 

[Rangerforever]

I still think it was a good thing for SU to go the FVSL.

 

[Rangerforever]

Off topic, but on, I guess, wasn't the MLS originally owned by one guy for a couple of years before he sold/distributed out the franchises gradually to separate owners?

That, and Adidas and Budweiser kicked in with him originally?

Be nice if we had a philanthropic guy along with a couple of big Canadian company sponsors helping to copy that blueprint?

 

[Dude]

I still think it was a good thing for SU to go the FVSL.

Off topic.

 

[Dude]

This guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Young_(businessman)

Apparently The Hammer's answer to Greg Kerfoot.

Except, well, he has a national vision for the CSL.

Creativity, vision, leadership, and deep, deep pockets.

 

[Rangerforever]

God bless Utah and his merry bag of dicks.

 

[Dude]

I'm not sure how Merry they are...

 

[dezza]

Interesting topic and not wanting to debate youth soccer on here but as it pertains to senior men's soccer, there are 8 HPL clubs in the province. My son plays on the Fusion team and there is no senior men's club to graduate to. SU, Metro Ford, Coastal, Langley have men's programs and the other four do not as far as I can tell. Are the first 4 clubs doing a good job moving kids up to the A team and what are the other 4 clubs doing with their graduating players? Many players from this league move to uni soccer for sure, some local and some go away,

I just noticed VI Wave have a team in VISL Div 1. Looking through their roster they look very young with the exception of 2 older guys who are listed as player-coaches. Coincidentally there is no U17 VI Wave Boys team listed in BCSPL, so it seems like they have chosen to enter the team in VISL over BCSPL. I thought BCSPL rules stipulated that every member club had to field teams in all age groups.... does this set a new precedent?

To keep things on topic... Surrey United are now 0-2 in FVSL Premier