Okay, so my old thread has become inaccurate/irrelevant with the recent announcements about clubs leaving/joining and the CSL announcing they'll be having an FA-cup style tournament rather than the traditional post-season playoffs. So, new question, only one vote allowed this time; who wins the league? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...GO!
Not sure who will win since I don't follow the league well enough to do anything but guess. Kingston had its first game on the weekend. A loss to TFC Academy but a high scoring loss that was entertaining. The Whig-Standard (Kingston paper) reported the attendance as close to 500. No actual figure was available but the capacity of the stands is 500 and there was no room left. So a good start on the attendance front, anyway.
Good to hear. I hope KFC succeed, and that they don't commit too many fowls. Coach Sanders seems to be doing a good job directing the squad, please do keep us abreast of any new developments at KFC. Now that that's out of my system: 500 is a solid turnout, and I hope Kingston do succeed as a club, because it is such a nice town and provides an important gap-bridger on the Quebec-Windsor corridor.
Kingston drew YR Shooters 1-1 this evening. Not a bad result for an expansion side v. a perennial competitor. The new-look, new-ownership London City SC drew 2-2 last night against another strong side, Serbian White Eagles. Here are the current standings in the CSL: Club...........................................MP...W...L...D...GF...GA...Pts. York Region Shooters............... 2..... 1 ....0 ..1..... 2 .....1 ......4 SC Toronto................................ 1..... 1.... 0 ...0 ....5 .....0..... 3 Mississauga Eagles FC ..............1..... 1.... 0 ...0.... 5 .....1 ......3 SC Waterloo.............................. 1..... 1..... 0...0.... 2..... 0 .....3 TFC Academy............................ 1..... 1.... 0... 0 ....4..... 2..... 3 Windsor Stars........................... 2..... 1.... 1....0..... 1..... 2..... 3 Serbian White Eagles............... 1..... 0.... 0... 1..... 2..... 2..... 1 London City..............................1..... 0..... 0... 1..... 2.... 2...... 1 Kingston FC............................. 2..... 0..... 1... 1..... 3.... 5...... 1 Montreal Impact Academy..... 0..... 0 .....0 ...0 ....0 ...0...... 0 Toronto Croatia ......................0..... 0..... 0... 0..... 0... 0..... 0 Niagara United ......................0..... 0...... 0 ..0 .....0 ...0..... 0 Brampton City Utd ................1...... 0...... 1... 0 ....0 ....1..... 0 Brantford Galaxy ...................1 ......0...... 1 ...0.... 0 ....1..... 0 North York Astros ..................1 ......0 .....1... 0..... 1.... 5 .....0 St. Catharines Roma Wolves ..1 ......0..... 1 ...0 ......0 ...5..... 0
Hey I was wondering what your thoughts would be on having a team from the East Coast joining the league. I know that there are some parties interested in Halifax (currently trying to iron out stadium/field requirements) for a minor league pro team. Of the leagues available, I have heard that the CSL is the most attractive league. It's a given that travel costs would be very high for this team, but there is a tremendous following for Senior soccer in the NSSL (amateur league - over 1000 at feature televised (local TV) games). I believe that there is definitely the talent in the area to compete (many ex-pros running the amateur circuit and acting as TD's for local clubs, along with NCAA and CIS all-stars coming up in the ranks. Thoughts? Would the team stand a chance to get expansion honours?
I've no idea but the travel for an east coast side would be absolutely brutal. For a part-timers league with many players actually being amateurs, they are going to be away from home and work a lot. That's not to say they couldn't conceivably be good but I think that what you really need is to put together your own Martimes Soccer League of four to six clubs and go from there. To be honest, while the CSL may seem like the most attractive league, make sure that due diligence is done.
The Nova Scotia Soccer League had teams from Fredericton, Moncton, Summerside and Charlottetown a few years back. It simply would not draw enough attention. The competition within Nova Scotia was the most prominent and despite having teams from other provinces, it couldn't catch on as "a big league". Some improvements could definitely have been brought to the league, but I think Haligonians don't connect to an all-maritime league. They want a bigger stage. Eastlink TV would definitely jump on a TV contract for local games (May be a problem with Rogers TV being a league sponsor, but not available in NS). It would draw big crowds. Other options are PDL and Quebec Premiere Ligue, and maybe...maybe USL Pro, if the money is there (Sobeys, for example).
It's not like CSL is "a big league" either though. Fans often number in the dozens with only a few teams drawing into three figures. I doubt the Rogers thing would be a problem. Game exchanges could probably be arranged. As much as don't want to run down our own, at this stage, if you could get into the PDL Northeast division, that would probably be a logical thing to do. Your longest road trips would probably be Ottawa and Boston.
The CSL has made some good steps forward in the past couple of years. They are expanding into markets outside the GTA such as Kingston and Waterloo. They are also setting themselves up more professionally and establishing a stronger second division. That said, it's still a case of two steps forward, one step back. They lost their expansion teams in both Hamilton and Ottawa. They can't seem to get any interest in Quebec aside from the Impact. (I really thought Trois-Rivieres would come back since they used to routinely draw over 1000.) An east coast team would be spectacular but I just don't see how it would work right now. Even if the east coast team itself could afford the travel to central Canada, most of the existing teams couldn't afford the travel to the east coast. My hope is that the CSL eventually develops into a D3 league where all the teams draw at least 1000 to 2000 fans. (Probably this would be done by having a core of strong CSL teams step up from the rest.) At that point an east coast team could make sense. That's a long ways away, though.
[quote="My hope is that the CSL eventually develops into a D3 league where all the teams draw at least 1000 to 2000 fans. (Probably this would be done by having a core of strong CSL teams step up from the rest.) At that point an east coast team could make sense. That's a long ways away, though.[/quote] I agree, but if is going to be done I think it needs to happen with the next 2-3 years. It's great we have the likes of TFC and Montreal putting their academy in the league I think the CSL need's to reach out to Edmonton, Vancouver etc to add their reserve/ academy teams to the league it will only make it better.
That would be great but that's an immense amount of travel for them relative to the rest of the league, and very expensive for the Ont/Que based clubs. A better idea would be for the PCSL to grow into a CSL equivalent for Western Canada (mostly, if nto all, in BC and Alberta) and VWFC and FCE academies would play in that league.
Yeah, that is the hesitation in these parts. Geographically, we are at a HUGE disadvantage. It is difficult to establish ourselves in a league, because other teams simply cannot afford to travel to us. Obviously we need those home games for revenue. Even leagues such as PDL, would most likely just force us into playing at neutral sites. Our only hope is going to USL-Pro (for example, definitely not an ideal case), but without any trial in a lower tier professional league, no owner would dare jump into a million dollar budget team.
The CSL are trying to establish themselves as a regional d3 in Canada. Atlantic Canada teams would be completely welcome in the league, they'd just have to be in a CSL Atlantic division.
I'm sure the CSL would love that. What I'm not sure about is how it could come about. A couple of years ago, a bunch of us kicked around ideas for a national D3 league based on regional divisions with bus travel (the CHL model). One of the problems with the Atlantic region is simply the lack of cities. Halifax, Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton, maybe Charlottetown. That's a really small division even if all the teams survive.
What makes the most sense to me for the east would be for the provincial associations for the maritime provices, and possibly Newfoundland, to band together form a league consisting of the top 8 or 10 ameteur teams in the region. May not be much, but it would be a start without having to outlay too much money, and see what could be grown out of that. The only kicker would be the cost of travel, but the longest trip that could possibly be made (if you don't consider Newfoundland) would be between Sydney and Edmudston, which is about 5 hours. With a bit of sponsorship and pulling out paid attendance of 100 or so per game I think it would be doable.
Paid attendance of 100 per game at $10 per ticket and, say, ten home games per year results in a budget of $10 000. I'm not sure that would even cover the bus to get to the away games. I know you said amateur teams but I really think a budget of more like $100 k is needed to make a legitimate go of things even if you aren't paying the players. That requires attendance more in the 1000 range. At least if we want the league to function even in the absence of "sugar daddy" owners who don't mind paying the freight.
The simple solution there would be to get the associations (with the help of some of the league sponsors) to buy some old schoolbusses off of local schoolboards. Then each top flight club is given access to one bus per season. It might not be too glamourous, but it would get them around. (maybe some new paintjobs of decals for the club using each bus?)
I've said it before. That maritime amateur league existed and failed. And that was only a few years ago. People in Halifax, and maritimes in general need to feel that this is one level higher than anything else they could find. It needs to have the pro feeling. Eastlink TV is the big seller for games around here. They televise 5-6 games every summer and those games draw 1000+. People see those games as a big deal, even though they are regular season games. In order to take that deal away, you have to convince Eastlink that your league is better than the Nova Scotia Soccer League's Eastlink Premiership. Not an easy sell if you have an amateur circuit. If its strictly amateur, clubs can't bring in players from other parts of the Maritimes. Players won't want to do it for free. I like the idea of the Atlantic division, maybe even add some Eastern Quebec teams (Rimouski, maybe) if 5-6 teams aren't enough. A minor pro league would help give incentive for the best players to venture to other Maritime towns/cities to play (billeting with local families for the duration of the season or share a place with a teammate), putting the teams on a more level playing field. These are the Maritime teams I would expect could find funding, talent and community backing: - Halifax - Bedford (Suburban Halifax) - Moncton - Fredericton or St. John - Summerside (In the past, they have been the PEI team that stood out. Small town, bigger crowds) - Chaleur (Bathurst, Campbellton, Acadian Peninsula) - Maybe one of the other NS regions (Highland, Anapollis Valley, South Shore or Cape Breton) Because CIS rules allow student-athletes to play in a pro-league under an amateur contract, university towns, such as Antigonish (St. FX) and New Minas/Anapollis Valley (Acadia) could add their best university players to their rosters, possibly making those areas viable options.
