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Canadian Premier League

Dude

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Really enjoyed that interview w/ Rob Friend. First, I have a HIGE amount of respect for Rob and any home grown Canadian who has made a go out of playing the game professionally. Ever since the collapse of the CPL, it's akin to fish swimming upstream to get oneself an opportunity to play overseas professionally.

Secondly, we need guys like Rob coming home and getting vested in this project.

Last...he's preaching to the choir, and anyone on this board, who have played locally, can relate to everything he's saying.

So excited for this.
 

Soccer Coach

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Apr 14, 2015
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Whao! A
Yes, this has to be it! @Soccer Coach, would you like to dance? Thinking an Argentine Tango. Remember, I lead.
guys...I understand that you get upset with the posts. However, there is no need to stalk, harass, or start smear campaigns. @Soccer Coach is simple a internet persona. We can discuss the topics without need to resort to personal attacks.

@Dude, I would not mind dancing with you. Dancing with other men was the traditional way to learn it, and sometimes we still do it at the "practicas" before dancing with women.
I just really have my doubts that you can keep up with the footwork, but we can give it a try. You can make fun all you want, but the best two players in the history of football (Messi and Maradona) come from the barrios where Tango is danced. Both the dance and the sport are very connected.


Yes, I am excited for the Canadian Premier League. I really regret that it is not here in the Lower mainland. I tell you something. You, asklop, and I can go to the first game together. No need to have animosity.
I would take you to the Opera too, but I have my doubts that you would enjoy it.
 

akslop

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Whao! A

guys...I understand that you get upset with the posts. However, there is no need to stalk, harass, or start smear campaigns. @Soccer Coach is simple a internet persona. We can discuss the topics without need to resort to personal attacks.

@Dude, I would not mind dancing with you. Dancing with other men was the traditional way to learn it, and sometimes we still do it at the "practicas" before dancing with women.
I just really have my doubts that you can keep up with the footwork, but we can give it a try. You can make fun all you want, but the best two players in the history of football (Messi and Maradona) come from the barrios where Tango is danced. Both the dance and the sport are very connected.


Yes, I am excited for the Canadian Premier League. I really regret that it is not here in the Lower mainland. I tell you something. You, asklop, and I can go to the first game together. No need to have animosity.
I would take you to the Opera too, but I have my doubts that you would enjoy it.


Lol. One of your better posts. You need to mix a few of these in every so often. Keep it up.
 

machel

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I went back up north(Prince Rupert) for the weekend and played in the annual soccer tournament for the first time since I left...20 years later. Smithers won the tournament easy and I got to have a nice chat with Daniel Imoff, kind of a legend up north. I asked him how he went pro. His family set up the trials and he said he was very lucky to have someone who really believed in his talents who took him on in the Swiss league and then Bundesliga. He said without that he most likely wouldn't have made it. Pretty much a dead end after university down here. I hope the CPL can offer something more for players wanting to go pro but I don't see much changing in the short term to be honest.

I have always been aware there is a lot of talent in other parts of the province and it's a shame these kids almost never get noticed.(although I heard the Whitecaps are setting up shop soon). I watch a lot of soccer down south here and of course the skill and calibre is leaps and bounds better but you get a lot of similar players being produced. Technically gifted, pacey, athletic but not that creative. (Of course I'm just generalizing, there are lots of creative players down south). I think it's because of the pressure to win down here and in the early ages. Create little cookie cutter athletes to win games but at the expense of having fun and trying tricks and suppressing creativity in the process. In the Whitecaps thread there are always moans and groans about RT but all I see are little RT's being produced. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing but why can't people see that is what we're producing at the lower levels? Sooner or later in development most players get to a similar level of fitness and pace so what separates the top and bottom...mentality,trickery,etc. The game isn't played straight up and we can't take a hockey mentality in to soccer. We reward defensive trickery all the time here like shirt pulling, aggressive tackles, clutching and grabbing. Those things are deemed to be ok in the name of defence but when players dive or go down more easy or simulate then that is frowned upon but why exactly? Is it because we're too proud of a people, is our own ego getting in the way? Even the NHL had to make new rules so the talent could rise to the top...what I'm saying is the game had to evolve/adapt and maybe our soccer mentality as a nation has to do the same. However I think we went backwards with the firing of Zambrano. Anyways, just stirring the pot. Going to play beer league right now, I expect to be trolled when I get back. happy Wednesday you fcuks. :p
 

Canucks4Ever

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So the Vancouver Island franchise gets "unveiled" today. Very little buzz about it, at least here on the mainland anyway.

Anybody with an idea on what to expect? Or are we all waiting for 2:30?
 

Dude

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Exciting.

Dezza- how do you see this potentially affecting your young talent base? You must have a couple of players that will aspire to play CPL. Has this come up in conversation?
 

dezza

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Hard to know at this point because we don't know what the level of play of CPL will be. Assuming it's significantly higher than say PDL, then I think realistically only a couple guys will be able to make the jump. Also, some of the young guys in school may prioritize completing their education before jumping into a new and unproven league (which for NCAA guys would ruin their eligibility)
 

Canucks4Ever

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CPL announced a USports (formerly CIS) draft for college players today that will allow players to retain their eligibility; essentially allowing them to do both CPL and USports.

http://canpl.ca/article/canadian-premier-league-announces-cpl-u-sports-draft

https://www.thespec.com/sports-story/8971022-cpl-to-partner-with-u-sports-in-player-draft/

This always seemed like a major hurdle for the league given that several of the most talented you players were going to be forced to chose whether to roll the dice and try and make a pro career happen or go to school, which ultimately would have thinned the talent pool for both associations. Will be interesting to see if this strikes the right balance.

From my understanding, players will be drafted annually and paid while playing for their CPL teams. They will then be returned to USports on Aug 15 each year. At which point, for each season that they wish to remain eligible for USports participation, they will be re-drafted. Therefore a guy playing for UBC could be drafted by Calgary this November, play there in the spring/summer before returning to UBC next August. At which point, if he has further years of eligibility, he would be drafted again after that USports season, quite possibly by a different franchise, where he would again play the spring/summer before returning to UBC.

Once a player's college eligibility has run out, it appears there is a general draft that he can enter wherein a team will get his rights in perpetuity or he can sign as a free agent.

It will be interesting to see how the franchises embrace this concept, given that they will have no guarantee of continuity for year to year. Certainly in these early, nascent stages of the CPL it it likely to be useful for teams filling out their rosters, especially considering that most of the top young players are already playing at the various Canadian universities. However, assuming the league gains traction, as teams begin to build their franchise player base, it will be interesting to see how they approach dealing with what would amount to be mercenary-esque college players.

Similarly, it will be interesting to see what effect this might have on UBC players who traditionally return to VMSL/FVSL teams.
 

dezza

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It will be interesting to see how the franchises embrace this concept, given that they will have no guarantee of continuity for year to year. Certainly in these early, nascent stages of the CPL it it likely to be useful for teams filling out their rosters, especially considering that most of the top young players are already playing at the various Canadian universities. However, assuming the league gains traction, as teams begin to build their franchise player base, it will be interesting to see how they approach dealing with what would amount to be mercenary-esque college players.

Forget continuity from year to year, these players will disappear on August 15, which I'd estimate would leave 6-8 weeks of the season left to play! If a CPL team were relying on these guys as any kind of key contributors then they are absolutely fcuked. I can't imagine this being used as anything other than a pure developmental method, where it gives the league/teams a chance to bring younger guys in and see how they fit in with the professional environment over a longer period of time. That way, when they are graduating and it is time to offer professional contracts they can have a better level of certainty as to who will actually be able to make the cut, as opposed to the crapshoot of a draft system that MLS has with NCAA.

If someone really excels over the summer, and forces their way into a starting lineup then I'd guess that team would try to convince them to drop out of school and sign a full professional contract. Hopefully the salary offers are enough to make it worthwhile for guys to take that route.
 

Dude

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I am leaning towards liking it.

There are only 8 teams (I think?), and the reality is, a college kid will be in tough to make the roster, no matter what. An exceptional one? Well, you find time to sprinkle him in, but if he's truly exceptional he wouldn't be in the USport system, would he be? He'd already be a HG star with one of the MLS squads.

I like that the focus is on identification and development. Also, as stated, gives kids a reason to stay North. This will be a boost to our USports teams, and arguably it's very good now.
 

Dude

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This quote is damning, because it describes everything the three local leagues aren't:

"This is an exciting development for all League1 Ontario stakeholders and will prove to be a natural evolution for our organization, which has been laser focused over the past five years on graduating Ontario’s top footballers to the next stage of their soccer careers,” said Dino Rossi, League1 Ontario Commissioner.

“With the Canadian Premier League coming on-line in 2019 and providing a badly needed domestic professional platform for League1 athletes to aspire to, it makes perfect sense to come together at this time and to align our efforts with the goal of growing the sport of soccer in the communities we serve – as well as to provide a very clear pathway to the professional level for the next generation of stars being developed in Ontario and across Canada.”
 

Canucks4Ever

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This quote is damning, because it describes everything the three local leagues aren't:

"This is an exciting development for all League1 Ontario stakeholders and will prove to be a natural evolution for our organization, which has been laser focused over the past five years on graduating Ontario’s top footballers to the next stage of their soccer careers,” said Dino Rossi, League1 Ontario Commissioner.

“With the Canadian Premier League coming on-line in 2019 and providing a badly needed domestic professional platform for League1 athletes to aspire to, it makes perfect sense to come together at this time and to align our efforts with the goal of growing the sport of soccer in the communities we serve – as well as to provide a very clear pathway to the professional level for the next generation of stars being developed in Ontario and across Canada.”

Yes and no... it's a bit apples to oranges.

The Ontario "League 1" is an official semi-pro (or as they describe it "pro-am") league. These are not the teams that compete, for example, for a spot at Nationals, those come from the OSL (ie this year's rep from Ontario was Caledon SC). Despite whatever comments people want to make about the VMSL, etc. having teams that allegedly pay players and thus being a de facto semi-pro league, the adult leagues in BC remain officially amateur.

Ontario League 1 has strict player guidelines:
  • Standards-based club licensing, renewed annually (not a franchise/ownership model). Standards include technical, organizational, facility and financial criteria.
  • Maximum of 3 non-Canadian players per club.
  • 18-man game day rosters must include a minimum of 8 U-23 players.
  • Starting 11 must include a minimum of 4 U-23 players.
  • Maximum of 5 substitutions per match.
So it is a genuine Tier 3 league, which is what BC Soccer has been trying to create for the past few years dating back to their horribly ill-conceived attempt to have a league up and running by 2016.

Could we use this in BC? Probably. Is the biggest hurdle to something like this the fact that the adult leagues hate each other and BC Soccer has proven incapable of creating something like this without their help or at least buy-in? I would say so.

Presumably if BC ever could establish a full blown Tier 3 League then CPL would look at a similar partnership.
 

Dude

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Nice summary, about right.

I truly hope a league emerges, and in doing so, siphons the VMSL, VISL, and FVSL of their young talent. It's time the local scene has evolved, and it won't evolve it left to the "Big Three" to figure it out. The top cradle-to-grave clubs in the mainland and Island would be best served to get together and figure this out, as in establish a 10-14 team spring / summer circuit to match the CPL schedule, and go forth. Natural selection will take care of itself.
 

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