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Regional Tier 3 League

Regs

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I'm surprised this hasn't been brought up.

Apparently BC Soccer has been investigating the creation of a semi-pro league.

The BC Soccer board formed a committee to investigate the potential for a Regional Tier 3 Adult League. This committee over the last 12 months has been gathering information, feedback and researching other similar leagues / environments, within Canada and Washington, who offer this semi-professional level of play.

BC Soccer is currently in the information gathering stage and not seeking wider comments and feedback, however is very pleased to be able to provide an update to the Adult League membership on this topic at the June 2015 Annual General Meeting.

I was always under the impression that the PCSL was considered a tier 3 entity in the Canada Soccer pyramid?

Has anyone here heard anything regarding this?

Cheers,

Regs.
 

dezza

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I know they met with the folks from L1O and PLSQ a few months back, but I wouldn't say that anything is imminent in BC. I guess you'll have to go the BCSA AGM in June for more details. Perhaps you could do live updates for us?
 

Regs

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What was the name of the league the last time this was tried in BC?

Was it the Pacific Rim or something like that? I believe one of the teams was the North Shore Colts... back in the early 80's I think...
 

Regs

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bcplacetourny1985.jpg
 

PV

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Apparently BC Soccer has been investigating the creation of a semi-pro league.
I was always under the impression that the PCSL was considered a tier 3 entity in the Canada Soccer pyramid?
Has anyone here heard anything regarding this? Cheers, Regs.

The CSA made noise about supporting a lower level professional league in Canada to give younger Canadians somewhere to play and develop. The CSA may have encouraged BCSA to investigate the possibility of a regional semi-pro league, call it tier 3 or something else. Without investors willing to lose wads of money, a Tier 3 league does not seem likely.
In addition, some BCSA folks looks at the HPL and wonder why a similar league does not exist at the adult level, at least on the mens side. We all know what happened when the leaders of the 3 largest mens adult leagues tried to create a Premier league for Vancouver, the mainland and Victoria.
Some BCSA Directors and maybe some staff travelled back east to talk to people there about their higher level adult leagues. Maybe they will report on what a Tier 3 league budget would look like and financial commitments needed of each team owner.
If there is conceptual support for a Tier 3 league, then the next question is whether BCSA can find a few dollars in its budget to support a Tier 3 league for men without cutting into the financial support already provided for the Mens Provincial cup?
 

Regs

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Here's the Quebec League version:

http://www.plsq.ca/en/index.html

They have some notable sponsors including TV coverage (something that I felt the leaders of the 3 big leagues here failed to address which for me was the biggest downfall in what they were trying to do).

Here's the Ontario League version:

http://www.league1ontario.com/

Not much info in the way of sponsorship or the like.
 

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Dumb question and maybe a Captain Obvious statement: isn't the USL considered Tier 3?

If so, why re-invent the wheel? Why not just apply for a USL team in certain key markets, and then mandate they draw from the local player pools.

The biggest issue will always be financial support. You can't call the "investors" "investors", because the term "investor" implies some sort of payback over time. You can have Sponsors, sure, but to hope there will be some white knights riding in with private funding is chasing your tail. The only possible investor can be the CSA and Provincial bodies themselves, because as payback, they will be seeing their players get better quality competition with the goal of one day going back to the World Cup. Those bodies would also need to be stakeholders in the product, and receive fair share back for any sale of players to professional squads.

Personally, if the CSA is serious about making to the WC and staying there, something like this should be strongly considered...but they need to be ready to pay the dragon.
 

trece verde

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Made-in-USA solution for a Made-in-Canada problem?

Nah. This has to be regional in focus, especially to start out. The Tier 2 team is already drawing flies from what's been posted for games at UBC, so you'd need smaller budgets and regional or community appeal.
 

Regs

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Ergo, the models to look at and investigate are right here in Canada already... it's called hockey.
 

GhostRider

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Ergo, the models to look at and investigate are right here in Canada already... it's called hockey.

IMHO Australia is the standard we should be comparing ourselves to and learning from.
 

Regs

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9,000 average?

Sorry, but no way can that be anywhere close to the model here... the 86ers struggled to get 5,000 consistently for years.

1000 - 2000 average I think is realistic IF marketing is done right.
 

GhostRider

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In late 60's/early 70's semi-pro Croatia SC vs Columbus in the would get 2,000-3,000.

A colleague at work wrote a piece on the success of the Australian sports community.

The main point of the article is that Australian clubs focus on selling "Memberships" more than tickets. With a strong Membership, ticket sales are easier. Also, club 'Members' feel a closer connection to club sponsors and therefore the sponsors are willing to contribute more.

The hockey angle is interesting. Maybe the Vancouver Giants operate a soccer team too?
 

Regs

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Nice article!

Croatia vs Columbus these days would get 20-30 fans :)

Memberships I would think should be explored here though with the way our population is laid out, teams based along ethnic lines would tend to get the most.

That being all said, how many teams realistically could survive and be supported here in BC? I tend to think that even 8 would be a stretch, no?
 

trece verde

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Actually remember playing an Imperial Cup game at Kensington Park against Croatia where the whole field was ringed at least 3 deep with spectators in the early 90's... easily a few hundred people.:)

If the youth clubs were allowed to grow organically into the adult levels of play (or vice versa), that could emulate the club system the way it is in Oz. How many would you need to make such a system viable? You'd have to have at least the same budget for travel and fields as an BCPL team does, and then a bit more to retain player$.
 

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