Canucks4Ever
Well-Known Member
Look it's like @LION said, put up or shut up. We go in circles on here every few months, and I do still maintain that I think discussions like these are what will ultimately lead to improvement in this game we all care so deeply about in Canada, but eventually it's likely down to people like us to do something about it. Literally.
And that is the problem. I would LOVE nothing more than to get paid $80,000 - $100,000 a year to run BC Soccer and I would devote hours above and beyond 9-5 to trying to make the changes that we all seem to agree on. Hell, I'll hire @LION to be my assistant and @Regs can run our website We can see who @GoF and his team have available to cover all sorts of our local soccer stories, grow our brand via social media and, most importantly, help create the systems and structure required for long term development of our youth leagues AND our adult leagues. It would be a slow process, we would likely make some mistakes along the way, but I have to believe we would show up for work each day with that long term goal in mind and just continue to work towards it, not unlike a team at the beginning of a long season. Unfortunately, that's not how the world works, we all have lives and families and jobs and we can only go so long giving our time for free, or for nominal remuneration, as coaches, board members, referees etc. Plus, things are so political and it is such an old boys network at BC Soccer, that the idea anyone here could ever reach a position where we could have true influence over the game in this Province (never mind the country...) is almost laughable.
Example, who the f*ck is Dan Turvill?? For the record he is the "Manager of Competitions and Discipline" at BC Soccer and ostensibly a really nice guy. You can see him at various Provincial Championships or BC Soccer events and for all intents and purposes he does a good job. But that's just it, it's a good job, not a great job and he doesn't inspire me as a guy who is a visionary. Google him and you can check out his profile on LinkedIn and read a press release on when he got his new position at BC Soccer. It will also turn up the fact that he is evidently a player on a bottom half of the table Masters team in the Burnaby league. Not that there is anything wrong any of his qualifications and he seemingly performs his functions to the best of his ability, this is no way meant to be a Dan Turvill witch hunt, but I am just trying to say this is emblematic of the people we have running soccer in this Province. Doesn't this guy seem more like the "volunteer dad" and less like the guy who is going to "instill passion and love for the game?" I can recall watching him doing the draw for the B Cup a couple years back and referring to Rino's as Rhino's, like so many others do. It's not uncommon, but you would think BC Soccer could get the names of it's participants right, especially one that has been around as long as Rino's. A look up and down the BC Soccer executive list just brings more of the same type of names. I'm sure they are all good, hard working people, but I have never heard their name come up ever in the context of "oh, she is a former national team player and came up through the Surrey youth soccer set up" or "ya, he coached for years and was an active board member at Metro Ford before he joined BC soccer, also was a founder of the Nations Cup tournament." Instead, these people read like any other company selling widgets and that's not going to grow the game. Does anyone know anything about Kjeld Brodsgaard, the BC Soccer President? I get that he is an island guy and your board is supposed to be made up of business guys, etc. but still, even in the press release there were no soccer specific highlights referenced. As far as I can tell his number one qualification to be President is that he used to be Vice President. I know there are guys on the referee specific side like Jo Branco and coaching specific side like Rob Csabai that are out pounding the pavement trying to make a difference (whatever our personal experiences with them may be), but that's really it as far as I can see. If there is no vision and passion at the top, how are they suppose to inspire the soccer community at large. Maybe I'm totally out to lunch and somebody is about to tell me that so and so IS actually a soccer guy and they do have deep ties to the soccer community, in which case I would be ecstatic because then maybe I could believe in this organization a little more.
Ok, rant over...
And that is the problem. I would LOVE nothing more than to get paid $80,000 - $100,000 a year to run BC Soccer and I would devote hours above and beyond 9-5 to trying to make the changes that we all seem to agree on. Hell, I'll hire @LION to be my assistant and @Regs can run our website We can see who @GoF and his team have available to cover all sorts of our local soccer stories, grow our brand via social media and, most importantly, help create the systems and structure required for long term development of our youth leagues AND our adult leagues. It would be a slow process, we would likely make some mistakes along the way, but I have to believe we would show up for work each day with that long term goal in mind and just continue to work towards it, not unlike a team at the beginning of a long season. Unfortunately, that's not how the world works, we all have lives and families and jobs and we can only go so long giving our time for free, or for nominal remuneration, as coaches, board members, referees etc. Plus, things are so political and it is such an old boys network at BC Soccer, that the idea anyone here could ever reach a position where we could have true influence over the game in this Province (never mind the country...) is almost laughable.
Example, who the f*ck is Dan Turvill?? For the record he is the "Manager of Competitions and Discipline" at BC Soccer and ostensibly a really nice guy. You can see him at various Provincial Championships or BC Soccer events and for all intents and purposes he does a good job. But that's just it, it's a good job, not a great job and he doesn't inspire me as a guy who is a visionary. Google him and you can check out his profile on LinkedIn and read a press release on when he got his new position at BC Soccer. It will also turn up the fact that he is evidently a player on a bottom half of the table Masters team in the Burnaby league. Not that there is anything wrong any of his qualifications and he seemingly performs his functions to the best of his ability, this is no way meant to be a Dan Turvill witch hunt, but I am just trying to say this is emblematic of the people we have running soccer in this Province. Doesn't this guy seem more like the "volunteer dad" and less like the guy who is going to "instill passion and love for the game?" I can recall watching him doing the draw for the B Cup a couple years back and referring to Rino's as Rhino's, like so many others do. It's not uncommon, but you would think BC Soccer could get the names of it's participants right, especially one that has been around as long as Rino's. A look up and down the BC Soccer executive list just brings more of the same type of names. I'm sure they are all good, hard working people, but I have never heard their name come up ever in the context of "oh, she is a former national team player and came up through the Surrey youth soccer set up" or "ya, he coached for years and was an active board member at Metro Ford before he joined BC soccer, also was a founder of the Nations Cup tournament." Instead, these people read like any other company selling widgets and that's not going to grow the game. Does anyone know anything about Kjeld Brodsgaard, the BC Soccer President? I get that he is an island guy and your board is supposed to be made up of business guys, etc. but still, even in the press release there were no soccer specific highlights referenced. As far as I can tell his number one qualification to be President is that he used to be Vice President. I know there are guys on the referee specific side like Jo Branco and coaching specific side like Rob Csabai that are out pounding the pavement trying to make a difference (whatever our personal experiences with them may be), but that's really it as far as I can see. If there is no vision and passion at the top, how are they suppose to inspire the soccer community at large. Maybe I'm totally out to lunch and somebody is about to tell me that so and so IS actually a soccer guy and they do have deep ties to the soccer community, in which case I would be ecstatic because then maybe I could believe in this organization a little more.
Ok, rant over...