Even though the EU will probably stonewall Blatter on the 6-5 it's pretty clear that FIFA is trying to move in the opposite direction of your idea and the confederations seem to be with him.
Yet they leave the NCAA door open which shows the lack of serious commitment on their part. Anyone with half a brain would now the best way to get the top players is to make them choose between NCAA and the professional game. Why waste the time an effort in an academy when the best won't even be part of your team, regardless of the other excuses made. This is North America, not Europe.
Because when they get out of college, they're still your player. They cannot enter the draft or even, I believe, go to Europe. Their rights are yours regardless of whether they decide to get a degree unless they choose another profession. Besides, I think that the academies are the best way for a future MLS to compete with other leagues for atheletes. While the NFL and NBA have expressed an unwillingness to accept talented youngsters and established age limits, as yet soccer, baseball and hockey are sports which seek to mould young players and show them a pathway to the pros at a far earlier age.
Geography is no argument for anything. Except of course discussions on geography. Besides that, hockey's junior system is something we've been doing in Canada for decades, which is much more akin to an academy system than a uni type system.
Change my last statement. I'm pretty sure that academy players can go to other leagues if they haven't been formally signed by the senior club.
how do you know if you were signed as a 14 yr old in a TFC academy that you would not be good enough? A club like Ajax has aquired their success on the pitch and financially through the strength of their academy system....Academies are the proven way to move ahead, the club benfits whenever one of their students advance into the senior side or when they are compensated by another club for their efforts...players going the uni route will rarely reach the level of development that a academy player will.... I agree that it doesn't matter what nationality the player has, it would be great if TFC was full of Canadians but it doesn't really matter ....as long as Canadians are suiting up for a pro squad be it in somewhere in europe or the USA as long as their getting playing time, that will benefit our national side...
Well I wouldn't personally be good enough, because I lack the talent as a soccer player. My point was simply that, academies can only do so much. The US national team has build a new academy in Florida, but it isn't going to make Landon Donovan into Cristiano Ronaldo. If a country doesn't have the talent participating (such as Canadians playing hockey or Americans playing football, baseball etc), it can't turn coal into diamonds.
That is also the purpose of the academies. Thier existence might keep a kid who might have jumped to another sport at least playing soccer.
I have no problem with academies, I fully support what they are doing. What I don't support, nor understand is the concept that club teams should be used to develop national players. Clubs should be free to put the best team possible on the field. I don't care if the Impact have four Quebecois players, or eight Canadians, or eleven Zimbabweans, as long as they get results.
I can never understand people who feel the need to put national labels on people. Stamped on their forwards, "Spanish". I thought we had left that in the past.
You haven't said it but I sense you believe that the most talented athletes are in hockey??? there is no difference in talent available between the sports, the difference is in the training...Canada has more kids playing soccer than it does playing hockey, we have sufficient numbers of kids playing that should allow us to be legitamate contender for WC qualification every time.... the reason we suck at soccer is because youth soccer training is far behind the developmental training of hockey...Canada has thousands of hockey smart coaches who know their sport and we're a world power because of it, even the youngest hokey kids 4-5 yr olds have coaches who know the game teach them the most basic skills, 4-5 yr old soccer players generally get someone's mom or dad to volunteer...soccer has more coaches but precious few of them who anything about the game and player developmental...98% of the coaches training kids in Canada are incompetent...I was always dumbfounded how many tier 1 competitive teams could have coaches who never played soccer EVER! how is it a surprise to anyone that we don't develop WC quality players...you can't take a 16 or 17 yr old from that level of coaching and expect to ever create WC worthy talent, it's much too late, 10yrs too late... a single academy in Florida is going to do nothing for player development for the USA's 18 million soccer players but many academies one for each pro club will make a difference...and there is a difference in attitude between a euro club academy and N american academies or uni...kids in european or (s american) players are in the club academy on talent/effort, don't put in the effort and you're out, in N american academies players gain admitance generally because mom and dad paid the admisson... we have the talent, we don't have the coaches to develop it....
the EU is a seperate entity, any player from an EU state can play in another EU state, the same way as a Nova Scotian is free to work in BC... outsiders from non EU states need a work permit to play in the EU as they're taking work from an EU citizen, the same way as someone from the USA needs a permit to work in Canada.... in those cases it's not up to Seth Blatter but the EU
Sepp Blatter is trying to kill what you just cited. He essentially wants to create a football exemption for the EU's labor laws. Can you imagine what would happen in Canada or the US if you said all the soccer players from Manitoba to BC are Whitecaps property, Ontarians and Nova Scotia are Toronto's and Quebec and New brunswick go to the Impact. With a corresponding break up of states in MLS and the USL in the US. It will be interesting to see how this drama plays out, but I really hope that the EU wins out, which it should. Otherwise, I really couldn't care less if the Chinese league has 6 chinese players. As far as Academies go, I agree that youth coaching in North America is a joke. I personally grew up with a whole string of incompetent coaches, save for my final coach from 16-18. As has already been stated here, the NCAA has the same slew of problems. Still, in my opinion, another major impediment is that Canadian and American kids both don't think of soccer as a professional sports career. Part of this has to do with the fact that before recently their has not been a high profile domestic league, and the exposure of europeans leagues has only come about recently and still has room to grow. Compare this to Canadian kids, who grew up watching every move of their favorite NHL player. I remember as a kid I wanted to be Patrick Roy and always used the number 33 in every sport I could. Every canadian kid dreams of playing in the NHL. Just as every American kid thinks of the NBA, MLB or NFL as their dream. Inner city kids see a path out of poverty through these sports, not soccer. Soccer is still to much of a rec sport in both countries. My argument is that by increasing MLS's popularity, visibility and interest, it will encourage more kids to seriously consider dedicating themselves to soccer as a career.
Blatter will lose, it won't happen... I agree with you about " Every canadian kid dreams of playing in the NHL" that was true of me as well...but that was in the past it's a different generation now I've coached many kids(and their parents) who dream of a Euro pro soccer career(one actually made it, then F***** it up)...sadly they've no comprehension of how remote that dream is for Canadians, what are the odds of a Canadian kid with all the right athletic tools to play the game being born and live in a good soccer province, city and neighbourhood and then getting great coaches from u7 to u16, it would be like winning the lottery.... the "dedication" thing many people don't get. the level of comitment needed to succeed is staggering, I couldn't do it...I have a cousin who was in the Ajax system until U18 when he quit, their demands were endless "they own you, I couldn't do it anymore" was his explanation...
I fully agree with you that the lack of proper coaches is a major impediment. I understand the lack of commitment as well. I had two guys go to play collegiate soccer in North Carolina and Washington, both quit.
I looked up the 6+5 scheme being pushed by Blatter and FIFA, it may or it may not be afoul of any EU labour laws...the proposal is that a club like Arsenal/Inter/Madrid can sign as many foreign stars as they want but at kickoff they must have 6 players on the pitch who are eligible for the national team of that country...so players in theory are not prevented from finding employment with clubs in other EU states...if approved I can foresee a player taking this to court claiming such a rule is a restriction on his seeking employment as it is in effect a quota system and discriminatory...
Teams can only sign two players and keep them out of the draft. Even that is only the case if the the play signs on for 24 consecutive months in the program. Otherwise, they have little control over that players future. Yet age limits haven't affected the NBA or the NFL since there has been no exodus of players abroad. Baseball and hockey leave to others to develop and try and keep at an arms length. Soccer hasn't showing its willingness to equal what is found in either baseball or hockey.
Geography determines culture, especially with the culture of sport No its not. Both Jr A and Major Junior are still both geared towards the university system given the incentives that they offer to their players. As well, the players are already developed with no academy system in place. It's all done by local associations, not the teams themselves.
No its not. Both Jr A and Major Junior are still both geared towards the university system given the incentives that they offer to their players. As well, the players are already developed with no academy system in place. It's all done by local associations, not the teams themselves.[/quote] Major Junior players are not NCAA eligible last time I checked. Therefore unless you mean that they are gearing players towards Canadian Universities, which isn't exactly a high level of competition, it isn't a good comparison.
No its not. Both Jr A and Major Junior are still both geared towards the university system given the incentives that they offer to their players. As well, the players are already developed with no academy system in place. It's all done by local associations, not the teams themselves.[/QUOTE] ask the Jr's what their goal is Uni or NHL...Uni is where they go when they're passed up on in the draft, that or the bus leagues... Jr's would be the equivalent of the tail end of academy training, the critcal early years of training were done by local associations
ask the Jr's what their goal is Uni or NHL...Uni is where they go when they're passed up on in the draft, that or the bus leagues... Jr's would be the equivalent of the tail end of academy training, the critcal early years of training were done by local associations[/QUOTE] I would say that only major junior is equal to the last year of the academy system. Junior A and Junior B is more geared for kids hoping to get a university scholarship from hockey or to get noticed by a Major junior team. In many ways it is meant to develop talent that is not as early blooming by giving kids Junior hockey and then hopefully NCAA or CIS hockey afterwards. It's true that some professionals have come straight out of Junior A but it's not a league meant to groom pros.
Sorry to come in so late, but is there a way to vote both? TFC, Montreal and Vancouver in MLS, the North American Superleague. And then more Canadian teams in USL-1 or USL-2 or a Canadian league at a comparable level developing more players.
Culture in modern Canada (or any country really) is always changing, and it changes based on whether or not an idea is a good one or not. European teams didn't used to have mascots, now many of them do. European stadiums didn't used to be named after sponsors, now many of them do. The cultural gap between Canada and Europe is narrowing more and more all the time, and if the Europeans have good ideas then we would be wise to adopt them. Having an ocean in between does not negate this fact.